Anti-Constitutional Carry drive collected 37k signatures, 23k short of target

The Oklahoma Secretary of State has concluded an initial count of the signatures submitted for the anti-Constitutional Carry initiative petition, and found that the campaign collected 37,057 signatures, nearly 23,000 fewer than needed to halt the implementation of Constitutional Carry and out the measure up for statewide vote.

Rep. Jason Lowe (D-OKC) and supporting anti-gun groups had claimed to have collected over 50,000 signatures, still short of the nearly 60,000 signatures they needed.

Stillwater GOP Rep spoke at rally with anti-Constitutional Carry petition signing

State Reps. John Talley (R-Stillwater) and Trish Ranson (D-Stillwater)

State Rep. John Talley (R RINO-Stillwater) recently spoke at a Moms Demand Action rally and anti-Constitutional Carry petition signing in Stillwater on August 18th.

Veto-referendum petition signing at the Stillwater event

Talley earned a Conservative Index score of just 20 during the 2019 legislative session, making him the most liberal Republican legislator. One House Democrat and two Senate Democrats scored higher than Talley, even during a session largely devoid of moderate Democrat legislators.

Stillwater's Republican State Senator Tom Dugger missed the vote on HB2597, the Constitutional Carry bill. Of 9 votes that the Senate took that day, that was the only measure Sen. Dugger missed. In all likelihood, he "walked the vote". Both Talley and Stillwater's other State House representative, Trish Ranson (D), voted against the measure when it came to the House floor. Ranson also attended and spoke at the August 18th rally with Talley.

State Rep. John Talley and one of the rally speakers

Stillwater-area Republicans and gun-rights advocates should remember this in the 2020 election cycle.

Anti-Constitutional Carry petition: Stillwater council supports, Blanchard council opposes

Yesterday, the Oklahoma City council voted against lending support to the petition that hopes to stop Constitutional Carry here in Oklahoma. At least two other city councils took positions on the issue yesterday.

The Stillwater City Council passed a resolution that supports the initiative petition effort. The vote was 4-0 (one member was absent).

The Blanchard City Council passed the following resolution by a vote of 3-2, opposing the petition and supporting Constitutional Carry.

OKC Council rejects resolution supporting anti-Constitutional Carry petition

Yesterday, the Oklahoma City Council voted down a resolution that supported the initiative petition that seeks to stop implementation of Constitutional Carry in Oklahoma, charting a different course than OKC Mayor David Holt, who signed the petition a week ago.

From The Oklahoman:

The Oklahoma City council rejected a measure Tuesday to show support for a statewide vote on permitless carry in Oklahoma.

An effort is currently underway to gather enough signatures to halt a new law that would allow Oklahomans to carry a gun without a license or training. The petition seeks a statewide vote on the issue next year.

The council vote was five to four, with James Greiner, Larry McAtee, Mark Stonecipher, Todd Stone and David Greenwell voting against the measure.

Mayor David Holt joined JoBeth Hamon, Nikki Nice and James Cooper in supporting the measure.

Hamon had introduced the measure asking the council to publicly support the petition effort.

Opponents of the Constitutional Carry law have until 5pm Thursday to collect about 60,000 valid signatures in order to keep HB 2597 from going into law on November 1st and instead putting it to a statewide vote in 2020.

OK2A, 36 legislators file challenge against anti-Constitutional Carry petition

Earlier today, the Oklahoma Second Amendment Association, Oklahoma Taxpayers Unite!, the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee, 22 GOP members of the State House and 14 GOP members of the State Senate filed a challenge in the State Supreme Court aimed at tossing out the initiative petition being circulated by anti-gun groups that aims to send permitless carry to a state vote in hopes of overturning the new law.

Specifically, their brief states that 'The “gist” of the referendum effectively contains six separate clauses, two of which are blatantly false, inaccurate, misleading, and inflammatory, and the remaining four of which are inaccurate, misleading and inflammatory.' If their challenge is confirmed, the petition could be thrown out.

The cover sheet of the brief is below, listing the names of the 36 legislators that signed on, including House Speaker Charles McCall and House Majority Floor Leader Jon Echols (and yet, now that I look at it again, notably missing Senate President Greg Treat). Of interest to Muskogee area residents, State Sen. Kim David (R-Porter), State Sen. Roger Thompson (R-Okemah), State Rep. Avery Frix (R-Muskogee), and State Rep. Kevin McDugle (R-Wagoner) are on the list; none of the other legislators in or touching Muskogee County signed on to the brief.

More information:

• Read the 13-Page Protest Brief here. 
• Read  31-page SQ 803 here (the anti-Constitutional Carry initiative petition). 
• Read the Cover Sheet of the Supreme Court Brief here. 
• Visit the OK2A YouTube Channel for more videos on the topic.

Tulsa Mayor Bynum: "I don’t jump into the fray on state initiative petitions"

File this under A Tale of Two Cities Mayors.

Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum weighed in the other day on the initiative petition that aims to stop permitless/Constitutional carry from going into law. His position? Not that of fellow Republican Mayor David Holt of Oklahoma City, who signed the petition.

Bynum won't jump in on the petition. Commenting about his aim to work as a bridge-builder among a diverse set of viewpoints and political positions, Bynum said "I don’t jump into the fray on state initiative petitions" or other political dividing lines, as it could negatively impact his efforts in city government.

Read his full statement below:


Bynum wrote:

Please pardon me for a lengthy but important aside. Some things don’t fit in sound bites...

When I ran for mayor, I pledged to the citizens of Tulsa that I would focus on bringing our city together to focus on our greatest challenges. We’ve done that, and I am incredibly proud of the way Tulsans have gone about it. Racial disparities, LGBTQ rights, welcoming immigrants, police/community relations, 1921 graves - these are all potential controversies but we are being transparent and working as a community to address them.

And we’re working together on basic municipal issue areas too. We have a bipartisan City Council working with a bipartisan Mayor’s Office as a team - an approach we haven’t historically enjoyed in Tulsa. The City and the County are working as a team - most notably during the recent flood. Tulsa and our suburbs are working as a team to grow our economy - we’re excited about Milo’s Tea in Owasso and the outlet mall in Jenks.

How do we do work together in such an unprecedented way on issues that historically were avoided due to controversy? My approach as mayor has been that we do that by picking our fights.

We recognize that good Tulsans voted for different gubernatorial candidates last year, and good Tulsans will vote for different presidential candidates next year.

Good people disagree. And it becomes harder and harder to work together if you continually point out your disagreements.

So if you’re in a job like mine, you focus on the things you can really make a difference on - and you bring together people who otherwise disagree on the other stuff to fix those things within your purview. You sacrifice your right to express your opinion on every issue in service to the job you’ve been given.

So, I know it makes some of my friends angry that I don’t weigh in on every Trump or AOC tweet. I don’t sign a group letter telling Jim Inhofe and James Lankford how they should vote on a bill in the US Senate. I don’t jump into the fray on state initiative petitions.

As a citizen, you should feel free to do all of these things. As a citizen, I have opinions on all of them too. But as mayor, I have a responsibility to pull our city together so we can move it forward.

Some think this is playing politics. Hate to break the news to those analysts, but the politics on all of these issues is pretty simple in Oklahoma. If that’s what I cared about, I’d just go with the flow.

But I love Tulsa like most people love their mom. I’ve got 473 days left in the term you gave me to channel the passion and energy of every Tulsan into making this the best city we can make it. And “every Tulsan” means all you awesome folks who are upset with one another about these other issues. We need your help in making this a safer city, a city of opportunity for everybody, a city we will be proud to leave to our kids.

I post this because it has become an issue in the last week, and I see it only getting more frequent as we head into next year’s national elections. I want you to know why I am doing what I’m doing. Feel free to disagree with my approach, but I hope you can at least see the reasoning behind it.

Most importantly: I hope you’ll join me in trying to make Tulsa a better place.

Cory Booker weighs in on effort to stop Permitless Carry in Oklahoma

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), candidate for president in 2020, made this statement of support today for the initiative petition (SQ 803) that seeks to stop the implementation of permitless or 'Constitutional' carry in Oklahoma.

Joshua Harris-Till, President of the Young Democrats of America and a two-time candidate for Congress in Oklahoma's 2nd District, posted the video online.



HB 2597 was the first bill signed into law by Governor Stitt in February 2019, after passing the House by a vote of 70-30 and the Senate by a vote of 40-7. HB 2597 established “Constitutional Carry,” allowing the concealed or unconcealed carry of firearms by any person who is at least twenty-one years of age or at least eighteen years of age and in the military, if the person is not otherwise disqualified to purchase a firearm.

On August 12th, State Rep. Jason Lowe (D-OKC), Joshua Harris-Till (President of Young Democrats of America), the Oklahoma Chapter of Moms Demand Action, and others announced their intent to stop the measure. On August 21st, Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt (Republican, ostensibly) signed the petition.

Opponents of the Constitutional Carry measure are making a big push in the Tulsa and especially the Oklahoma City metros to garner the requisite signatures to put the implementation of the law on hold until the 2020 election.

Neese announces opposition to anti-Constitutional Carry petition

The stir over permitless (aka Constitutional) carry continues as opponents collect signatures to place the measure on a statewide ballot in hopes of keeping the measure from going into law. The center of the effort seems to be in Oklahoma County, where prominent figures including Oklahoma City's Republican mayor are supporting the repeal petition.

Terry Neese, one of the Republican candidates seeking to flip the 5th Congressional District red again, is out with a statement indicating her opposition to the anti-Second Amendment campaign:

TERRY NEESE ANNOUNCES OPPOSITION TO ANTI-SECOND AMENDMENT PETITION

Oklahoma City, OK – Terry Neese, conservative Republican candidate for Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District, today reaffirmed her support for permitless carry and her willingness to stand against any actions taken by city, state, or federal legislators to infringe on our Second Amendment rights. Neese’s statement comes after Oklahoma City's Ward 6 Councilwoman JoBeth Hamon announced her intention to introduce a resolution that, if approved by the Council, would demonstrate its support for an initiative petition seeking to halt the implementation of H.B. 2597.

“As a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, I oppose this resolution and will not be signing the petition - nor do I support putting it up for a vote in 2020," said Terry Neese. "The Constitution gives every law-abiding American the right to bear arms and I will oppose any action - at any level of government - that seeks to infringe on the Second Amendment.”

Signed into law by Governor Kevin Stitt this year, H.B. 2597 would allow residents and nonresidents 21 years of age or older, as well as active-duty military over the age of 18, to carry a firearm without a permit.

For more information on Terry Neese or her campaign, visit NeeseForCongress.com.

OKC Mayor Holt signs petition to repeal Constitutional Carry

OKC Mayor David Holt has signed on to the initiative petition that aims to repeal Oklahoma's pending permitless carry (aka Constitutional Carry) legislation that is set to go into effect in November.

"Many OKC residents have deep concerns about permitless carry, set to take effect 11/1," Holt said in a tweet yesterday. "Regardless of your stance, a vote settles the debate. A petition is being circulated to provide that option & I just added my name. If you want to sign it as well, Tweet @cackiness."

Oklahoma City has trended leftward politically in recent years, and leftist anti-gun activists had been calling on the moderate liberal Republican mayor to sign their petition. Moderately conservative when first elected to the State Senate, various conservative rating groups like the Oklahoma Constitution and the American Conservative Union tracked Holt trending to the center the longer he was in the Senate, and has continued trending to the left during his tenure as mayor.

Holt seems to be employing a policy of ambiguity on the topic, avoiding outright stating his position in favor or opposition to the petition's goal but signing it nonetheless, lending (at the least) tacit support for it. Much like King Saul in I Samuel 15, Holt can try the excuse that he signed the petition because "the people" asked him to.

It's similar to the "coward's strategy" oftentimes used in the legislature, where major policies are passed as state questions in order to "pass the buck" for the result to the state's voters, instead of taking the legislative responsibility on themselves. "I didn't vote for it [if it ends up being unpopular] or against it [if it ends up being popular], I just wanted 'the people' to have a say" goes the line.

Holt was first elected mayor in 2018, and won't be up for reelection until 2022.

OKGOP slams Dems' Constitutional Carry repeal effort

Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman David McLain

OKLAHOMA REPUBLICAN PARTY RESPONDS TO FAR-LEFT ATTEMPT TO REPEAL SECOND AMENDMENT PROTECTIONS

(OKLAHOMA CITY, OK) - During a press conference Monday, Democrat state representative Jason Lowe announced his filing of a repeal petition to repeal House Bill 2597, commonly known as constitutional carry. He was joined by far-left activist groups including Bloomberg-funded Moms Demand Action and Young Democrats of America.

Per the rules surrounding repeal petitions in Oklahoma, the out-of-state activist groups will be required to acquire tens of thousands of signatures in the next 10 days in order to have their repeal question placed upon the 2020 ballot.

In response to Rep. Lowe's announcement, Oklahoma Republican Party chairman David McLain released the following statement:

"Our Republican-led legislature voted overwhelmingly in 2019 to protect Oklahomans' constitutional right to carry and through Governor Kevin Stitt's leadership, Oklahomans will soon be allowed to fully exercise their Second Amendment right to bear arms. The Oklahoma Republican Party stands ready to defend every Oklahoman's right to bear arms and we stand firmly against the far-left agenda of Oklahoma Democrat lawmakers and out-of-state socialists."

BREAKING: OK Dems to attempt initiative to repeal Constitutional Carry

State Rep. Jason Lowe (D-OKC), supported by the Oklahoma chapter of Moms Demand Action, the president of the Young Democrats of America, and other groups, announced today that he has filed with the Secretary of State to collect signatures for an initiative petition to overturn permit-less carry (aka Constitutional Carry) legislation here in Oklahoma.

The press release announcing the move is below:

MEDIA ADVISORY: Lowe to Hold Press Conference to Announce Referendum Petition on Permit-Less Carry Legislation

WHO: Representative Jason Lowe, Joshua Harris-Till – President of Young Democrats of America, Jennifer Birch – Oklahoma Deputy Chapter Lead of Moms Demand Action, Rev. Lori Walke – OKC Faith Outreach Lead, Moms Demand Action

WHAT: Press Conference

WHEN: TODAY, August 12, at 2 p.m.

WHERE: Room 432B of the State Capitol

WHY: Today Representative Jason Lowe has filed language with the Secretary of State to repeal House Bill 2597 commonly known as Permit-less carry. He and the groups joining him believe the people of Oklahoma should decide if removing training and permits for firearms are the right decision for our state. With a very narrow window of 10 days, Representative Lowe hopes to get tens of thousands of signatures in order to place this question on the 2020 ballot.

Moms Demand Action is part of a nationwide anti-gun organization founded by the infamously anti-Second Amendment former mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg was influential in the 2018 defeat of 5th District Republican Congressman Steve Russell. Former Oklahoma governor, senator, and OU president David Boren used to be on the advisory board of the national organization ('Everytown for Gun Safety') that oversees MDA.

Joshua Harris-Till twice ran for Congress in the 2nd Congressional District. In 2014, he lost in the primary, and was the 2016 Democratic nominee, garnering just over 23% of the vote. He was elected as national president of the Young Democrats of America at their 2019 convention last month.

Lori Walke is the wife of State Rep. Collin Walke (D-OKC), one of the most liberal members of the Oklahoma Legislature.

HB 2597 was the first bill signed into law by Governor Stitt in February 2019, after passing the House by a vote of 70-30 and the Senate by a vote of 40-7. HB 2597 established “Constitutional Carry,” allowing the concealed or unconcealed carry of firearms by any person who is at least twenty-one years of age or at least eighteen years of age and in the military, if the person is not otherwise disqualified to purchase a firearm.