Going to Oklahoma for July 4th weekend

[GrandSporTA]

Any specific laws I should know about carrying there? If I am not carrying, I will be keeping my pistol underneath my seat in the car, is that ok? Let me know guys! Thanks!

[gmckinl]

Any specific laws I should know about carrying there? If I am not carrying, I will be keeping my pistol underneath my seat in the car, is that ok? Let me know guys! Thanks!

Yes! Read the laws. Do you have a CHL recognized by OK? Non-CHL handgun carry requires unloaded, cased, but case visible carry; underneath the seat would be a nogo under those conditions. Try handgunlaw.us for more info.

[GrandSporTA]

Yes, I have a TX CHL. I was just making sure if I was carrying concealed I would be ok, and if I wasn't carrying, if it was ok to be loaded underneath my seat in my car.

[GrandSporTA]

It seems I can keep a loaded firearm in my car as long as I have a license, which I do. Does that sound about right?

[MojoTexas]

I just went to Oklahoma the last weekend in July, and I did some reading up on the Oklahoma laws, and the strangest thing I saw was their rule that you can't carry anything larger than a .45.

I was carrying my 1911, so I was fine, but what if I wanted to conceal a .44 magnum? In diameter, it's smaller than the .45. Does that count? Or do they look at over all size? It seems like a vague and silly law.

MojoTexas

[denwego]

It gets even weirder when you think about .45LC/.454 Casull - both are the same bullet diameter, which is slightly larger than .45 inches. Does that mean both are prohibited? Is .45LC OK because my gun's barrel says .45 but .454 Casull isn't? Is a .454 Casull handgun allowed if I load it with .45LC? It's insane and yet another reason why Texas > Oklahoma. It's OK to be biased here

[MojoTexas]

At least Oklahoma has a "parking lot" law that makes it legal to leave a firearm locked in your vehicle. In Texas an employer can prohibit you from doing that if they post the parking lot 30.06, or they can fire you if it's part of the corporate policy and you disobey and get caught.

Oklahoma passed their parking lot law after an incident in October 2002 when Weyerhaeuser (the paper company) sent drug dogs through the parking lot of their Valliant, OK paper mill after an employee drug overdose. They didn't find any drugs, but the dogs "alerted" on 12 vehicles containing firearms. A warning was issued not to have guns in your vehicle, and a month later they checked again and still found firearms in vehicles. Long story short, some people got fired, and a civil lawsuit was filed against Weyerhaeuser, which the plaintiffs lost. However, that was the stimulus for Oklahoma to pass their parking lot law.

It's §21-1289.7a, according to gunlaws.us:

§21-1289.7a. Transporting or storing firearms in locked motor vehicle on private premises – Prohibition proscribed – Liability enforcement.
A. No person, property owner, tenant, employer, or business entity shall maintain, establish, or enforce any policy or rule that has the effect of prohibiting any person, except a convicted felon, from transporting and storing firearms in a locked motor vehicle, or from transporting and storing firearms locked in or locked to a motor vehicle on any property set aside for any motor vehicle.
B. No person, property owner, tenant, employer, or business entity shall be liable in any civil action for occurrences which result from the storing of firearms in a locked motor vehicle on any property set aside for any motor vehicle, unless the person, property owner, tenant, employer, or owner of the business entity commits a criminal act involving the use of the firearms. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to claims pursuant to the Workers’ Compensation Act.
C. An individual may bring a civil action to enforce this section. If a plaintiff prevails in a civil action related to the personnel manual against a person, property owner, tenant, employer or business for a violation of this section, the court shall award actual damages, enjoin further violations of this section, and award court costs and attorney fees to the prevailing plaintiff.
D. As used in this section, “motor vehicle” means any automobile, truck, minivan, sports utility vehicle, motorcycle, motor scooter, and any other vehicle required to be registered under the Oklahoma Vehicle License and Registration Act.
Added by Laws 2004, c. 39, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2004. Amended by Laws 2005, c. 448, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2005.