Coburn, Inhofe Vote For Concealed Carry Proposal

Senators Tom Coburn and Jim Inhofe today voted in favor of a proposed federal law that would allow holders of concealed carry licenses to carry firearms in every state, but the measure failed by two votes despite winning a plurality. Sixty votes were needed; 58 senators voted for it.

Oklahoma now honors concealed carry permits from all states that have them and 31 states have honored Oklahoma's concealed carry laws.

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CCRKBA Hails Interior Department Ruling

Today’s announcement that the Interior Department has amended its rules and will henceforth allow licensed concealed carry of firearms in national parks was hailed as a victory for the Second Amendment by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

“No longer will American citizens be required to leave their right of self-defense at the gates of a national park,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb.

“This common-sense change in regulations reflects not only changes in the laws of 48 states, but more importantly the Supreme Court’s ruling in June that upheld the individual right to keep and bear arms that is protected by the Second Amendment.”

Under the rule change, individuals may carry concealed handguns in national parks and wildlife refuges only if they are licensed to carry under the laws of the state in which the park or refuge is located. This new rule does not allow the illegal carrying of any firearm, nor will it allow hunting, target practice or poaching.

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Texas Governor Rick Perry Supports School District's Firearms Concealed Carry Decision

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Texas Gov. Rick Perry indicated Monday he supports a tiny school district's decision to allow teachers and staff to pack guns for protection when classes start later this month.

Trustees at the Harrold Independent School District, in the Panhandle adjoining the Oklahoma border, approved a policy change last year to allow employees to carry concealed firearms to deter and protect against school shootings.

"There's a lot of incidents where that would have saved a number of lives," Perry said.

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Texas School District Authorizes Firearms

By Mark Agee/Fort Worth Star-Telegram ~ When classes start Aug. 25 in the tiny Harrold school district, there will be one distinct difference from years prior: Some of the teachers may have guns.

To deter and protect against school shootings, trustees have altered district policy to allow employees to carry concealed weapons if they have a state permit and permission from the administration.

The 110-student district lies 150 miles northwest of Fort Worth on the eastern end of Wilbarger County, near the Oklahoma border.

More than a dozen state legislatures have considered making it legal to carry guns on college campuses, but experts and officials contacted by the Star-Telegram say the move is unheard of in elementary or secondary schools.

Superintendent David Thweatt said a main concern was that the small community is a 30-minute drive from the sheriff’s office, leaving students and teachers without protection.

The district’s lone campus sits 500 feet from heavily trafficked U.S. 287, which could make it a target, Thweatt said.

Other security measures are in place, including one-way access to enter the school, state-of-the-art surveillance cameras and electric locks on doors. But after the Virginia Tech massacre and the Amish school shooting in Pennsylvania, Thweatt felt he had to take further action, he said.

"When the federal government started making schools gun-free zones, that’s when all of these shootings started," Thweatt said. "Why would you put it out there that a group of people can’t defend themselves? That’s like saying 'sic ’em’ to a dog."

Texas law outlaws firearms on school campuses "unless pursuant to the written regulations or written authorization of the institution."

Thweatt did not say how many of the 50 or so teachers and staff members will be armed this fall because he doesn’t want students or potential attackers to know. Wilbarger County Sheriff Larry Lee was out of the office Thursday and did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

Barbara Williams, a spokeswoman for the Texas Association of School Boards, said her organization is not aware of another district doing something similar. Ken Trump, a Cleveland-based school security expert who advises districts nationwide, including in Texas, said Harrold is the first district he knows of to take such a step.

Trump said he would have advised against allowing teachers to arm themselves, if only because of liability concerns. In the long run, it could have been cheaper and safer to hire security or off-duty police, he said. Texas school districts also have the option of forming their own police force, he noted.

"What are the rules for use of force?" Trump said. "Or how about weapons-retention training? Because they could go in to break up a fight in the cafeteria and lose their gun."

Thweatt said the district did not rush into the decision. Officials researched the policy and weighed other options for about a year before trustees voted on the policy in October.
"The naysayers think [a shooting] won’t happen here," he said. "If something were to happen here, I’d much rather be calling a parent to tell them that their child is OK because we were able to protect them."

Teachers and staffers in the Harrold school district can carry firearms beginning this fall if they: Have a Texas license to carry a concealed handgun; are authorized to carry by the district; receive training in crisis management and hostile situations; and use ammunition that is designed to minimize the risk of ricochet in school halls.

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Campus Gun Carry Measure Fails

Another effort has failed in the Senate to advance a proposal to let some students, including military veterans, carry guns on college campuses.

Rep. Anthony Sykes offered an amendment on Thursday to revive the gun bill after the original proposal died in a Senate committee.

Sykes' bid was blocked, however, when senators approved a motion to cut off consideraton of amendments. That motion was lodged by Sen. Patrick Anderson, an Enid Republican.

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NRA Urges Support For Campus Carry Bill

The National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action today is urging Oklahoma 2nd Amendment advocates to contact legislators in support of a proposed amendment to House Bill 2606 that would allow for active duty, reserve, National Guard and honorably discharged armed services members with concealed carry permits to carry on public college and university campuses.

"The fundamental right of self-defense does not end at a person’s doorstep, or at the boundary of a college or university," the NRA-ILA statement said. "Oklahoma’s law-abiding citizens are not immune from criminal attack simply because they happen to be on a college campus. Moreover, any criminal intending to do harm on a college campus is not likely to be deterred by a university policy prohibiting concealed weapons.

"Nationwide, and certainly in Oklahoma, concealed weapon permit holders have proven to be among the most law-abiding citizens in our society. They have proven to be competent and responsible when exercising their right to carry a concealed firearm for self-defense.

"Furthermore, those which have sacrificed and honorably served our nation have earned and deserve our respect. Surely, those armed services members who have also obtained a concealed weapon permit should be trusted with carrying on a public college or university campus – just as we trust them in other public areas of the Sooner State.

"Please contact your State Senator immediately and strongly encourage him or her to support the proposed amendment to HB2606 in its current form and allow these law-abiding citizens the right and means to defend themselves when on public college and university campuses.

"To contact your State Senator, please click here."

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Obama Confirms Anti-2nd Amendment Stance

Barack Obama is embracing anti-gun policies in the run-up to a Democratic presidential debate scheduled on the one-year anniversary of the Virginia Tech shootings.

“I am not in favor of concealed weapons,” Obama told the Pittsburgh Tribune. “I think that creates a potential atmosphere where more innocent people could (get shot during) altercations.”

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Senate Kills Campus Concealed Carry Bill

From The Tulsa World ~ The State Senate will not hear a controversial bill to allow certain people to carry concealed weapons on campus, top Senate leaders confirmed Monday. The confirmation from Senator Johnnie Crutchfield, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, came shortly after a governor’s task force on campus security unanimously approved a resolution urging that the bill not be heard in the Senate, after being approved earlier by the House.

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House Passes Concealed Carry Legislation

From www.tulsaworld.com ~ The House today easily passed a weakened bill that would allow military veterans and trained law enforcement personnel to carry concealed weapons onto college campuses.

Before the bill was passed, 65-36, it was stripped of more liberal provisions that would have allowed anyone age 21 or above with a concealed carry permit to be armed on campus.

Lawmakers argued over whether arming some students would make campuses more safe or dangerous.

Rep. Jason Murphey, R-Guthrie, who noted the National Rifle Association supports the bill, said, "We're not going to tell a veteran that he cannot defend himself."

Rep. Ray McCarter, D-Marlow, urged fellow members to vote for their constituents rather than worry about what grade they were going to get from the NRA.

"Shame on the NRA for putting us in this position," he said.

Another lawmaker won passage of a related bill that also was watered down before being approved.

House Bill 2232 by Rep. Jerry Ellis originally would have allowed anyone 18 and above to carry a concealed weapon if the person had undergone eight hours of training and received a permit. Ellis, D-Valliant, amended the bill to cover only those age 18 and on active military duty or a member of the National Guard or military reserve. His bill was approved, 91-9.

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Concealed Carry Applications Soar In Colorado

Colorado Springs, CO ~ Applications for concealed-weapon permits have skyrocketed in Colorado, with the increase fueled by everything from heavily publicized mass shootings to routine renewals, according to the state's sheriffs.

In 2007, 9,880 people statewide sought permits, compared with 6,649 people in 2006 and 6,670 people in 2005, according to the County Sheriffs of Colorado.

And the surge has continued into 2008 in several counties.

Law-enforcement experts have different ideas on why more people want to carry concealed weapons. Some believe it is due to a rash of violent outbreaks at Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois University and a mall in Utah.

Some sheriff's offices believe churches concerned about protecting their flocks are seeking concealed-carry permits. Another official believes many of the initial batch of five-year permits in the state are expiring soon and that people are simply renewing applications. Those seeking permits are not required to explain why they want to carry a weapon. Whatever the reason, the trend is real.

Applications for concealed-carry weapon permits in El Paso County rose 87 percent in 2007, fueled partly by several highprofile violent incidents locally and nationwide, said Sheriff Terry Maketa.

Permit applications rose 50 percent statewide and more than doubled in 18 of Colorado's 64 counties, according to a report issued Monday by County Sheriffs of Colorado.

Executive Director Don Christensen downplayed violence as a reason permit applications were up, noting the 2003 law mandating statewide concealed-carry permitting required that anyone who had a local permit before the law went into effect had to renew it by June 2007.

But Maketa said that of the 2,101 permits issued in El Paso County in 2007, roughly 75 percent were from new applications rather than renewals. El Paso County issued the highest number of concealed-weapon permits of any county in the state in 2007, but it is also the most populated, according to the 2006 Census.

Maketa said the greatest spikes in applications over the past year have come right after well-publicized incidents of violence.

After the February 2007 mall shooting in Utah, applications rose from 81 in February to 191 in March. Then, after the April rampage in which a gunman killed 32 people at Virginia Tech, applications went up from 174 in April to the year's monthly high, 210 applications, in May.

The trend continued after the December shooting of two sisters at New Life Church. Applications rose from 123 in December to 171 in January to 294 in February, according to figures from the Sheriff's Office.

The spike in the number of murders in Colorado Springs and a spate of legislative bills that cut into gun rights last year also factored into the equation, Maketa said.

He said he is not concerned about the growing number of legally armed people in the county. In fact, he said he believes law-abiding citizens make the region safer by getting the permits.

"Actually, I wish it was a higher number, because I know from experience that offenders in the jail system tell me they avoid crimes against people because they know there is a very high concealed-carry rate," Maketa said.

"People want to defend themselves," said Doug Davis, president of the Pikes Peak Firearms Coalition. "That's why they get permits."

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Murphey's Campus Carry Bill Draws NRA Attention

Rep. Jason Murphey's bill that would allow the concealed carry of a firearm, by those with licenses, on campuses has drawn the attention of the National Rifle Association's news division.

Murphey, Guthrie Republican, will appear on the NRA's "Cam and Company" show tonight at 8:20 p.m. The show airs at www.nranews.com (audio and video) and on Sirius Satellite Radio Patriot Channel 144.

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Murphey Bill Would Allow Campus Concealed Carry

By Mick Hinton, Tulsa World ~ A bill that would allow some college students to carry concealed weapons on campus is headed for the House floor.

House Bill 2513 by Rep. Jason Murphey (pictured), R-Guthrie, was approved 14-2 by the House Judiciary and Public Safety Committee.

The bill would allow students to carry firearms on campus if they are at least 21 and are licensed to carry a concealed weapon.

"As long as students kept their weapons concealed, they could go into class with them," Murphey said. He said he decided that the bill was needed after the Feb. 14 shootings that left six dead, including the gunman, at Northern Illinois University and an attack in April at Virginia Tech in which a gunman killed 32 people.

Murphey said the bill, which would apply only to public colleges and universities, would allow students to defend themselves, especially if they were being victimized by someone. But the greater value of such a law would be that a potential shooter might be hesitant to come onto a college campus, he said. "A gunman would not know who might be trained and could defend themselves," Murphey said.

"If you can walk down Main Street with a concealed weapon, you should be able to walk onto a college campus with one," he said.

Murphey will discuss his bill on the National Rifle Association's "Cam and Company" show tomorrow night at 8:20 p.m. The show can be seen and heard at www.nranews.com and on Sirius Satellite Radio Patriot Channel 144.

Rep. Paul Roan, an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper for 25 years, voted against the bill, saying such a law could greatly hinder law enforcement.

"You wouldn't know who the players are," he said. Because weapons now are banned, he said, police can tell if someone comes onto campus "with a gun for evil purposes."

Roan, D-Tishomingo, said the amount of training to qualify for a concealed weapon permit is minimal. Those who are granted licenses have to take eight hours of training that includes classes and practice at a firing range. Roan said the bill would mean that a person who practiced with a simple kind of gun at a range could come onto campus armed with a high-powered weapon.

Murphey's original bill, requested by a constituent, would have changed the law so that a person could transport a rifle, shotgun or pistol "open and loaded" in a vehicle at any time. He said the bill would have been patterned after the "Texas Travel" law, which provides that Texans can have loaded weapons in their vehicles. Murphey said the committee did not like that version of the bill, so he decided to scratch that language and insert the new proposal regarding guns on college campuses.

Oklahoma State University spokesman Gary Shutt said OSU is tracking the bill. Noting that students are not allowed to have guns on campus, Shutt said police still are evaluating the proposal.

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