Two bills dealing with guns and gun ownership are now out of committee and may be heard on the Senate floor.
The first, SB 50, from Jo Anna Dossett of Tulsa, would allow a sales tax exemption for the purchase of gun safes and other firearm safety devices such as cases and lock boxes.
“Responsible gun owners and those considering maintaining their firearms more safely will benefit directly from SB 50 by keeping cash in their pockets. The rest of us will benefit indirectly by the added protection the bill provides against misuse and even theft and criminal use of firearms,” Dossett said.
The program is estimated to reduce revenue to the state by $178,000 annually.
The second bill, SB 381, would restore gun rights to some nonviolent felons who have served their sentence and gone five or more years with no other charges or convictions, even misdemeanors. The bill only permits non-semiauto weapons to be possessed, transported or carried.
“I’ve heard from many Oklahomans who made mistakes when they were young but have since turned their lives around and become upstanding citizens,” Bullard said. “Some of them want to regain their gun rights for personal protection, to keep their loved ones safe, or to rebuild the lives they’ve worked hard to transform. Others wish to hunt, engage in recreational shooting, or simply exercise the rights they’ve been denied for too long. Oklahoma is a proud Second Amendment state where those who have paid their debt to society and demonstrated their commitment to change deserve the opportunity to regain their gun rights.”
The bill does not allow restoration of rights to anyone convicted of child endangerment, sexual assault, stalking, domestic abuse, incest, indecent exposure of violation of a protective order.
Each bill is now eligible to be heard by the full Senate.