Oklahoma to Become An Open Carry State on Nov. 1

Oklahoma will become an open carry state on November 1.  While not the first state, by far, to become a shall-issue concealed carry state, Oklahoma has been catching up to the rest of free America fast.  I loved this statement by a lonely Democrat:

State Sen. Judy Eason McIntyre, D-Tulsa, opposed the bill when it came up in the Legislature, and she said her concerns stand. 

"I still think it's a bad bill," McIntyre said. "Like a lot of other people, I'm apprehensive." 

She said many may feel the same, but support for the bill was overwhelming when it came up. If there were detractors, she didn't hear from them. 

"When this bill came up, I don't remember being lobbied by anybody at the Capitol to say this is a bad bill," McIntyre said. 

Now that it's set to become law, she said she will be nervous whenever she sees someone who is armed and will do what she can to avoid that person.

"I'm afraid of guns for one thing," McIntyre said. "I was a social worker, and I saw children killed by guns, whether it was criminal or accidental." 

"It's less frightening if it's someone I know (who is armed), but to be at a place where you don't know the history or the background, it's frightening."

 Um, then Senator, perhaps it is not such a bad bill after all?  Just because she is afriad of seeing guns in public does not mean that it is a danger to the public.  Criminal are already carrying, have always carried, and do not do so openly.

Comments from police officers in the article indicate that they are not expecting any problems, so it seems that Senator McIntyre is simply afraid of guns being visible in public.  This one sums up the law enforcement view nicely:

"My prediction would be that this is going to be a non-issue for Oklahoma just like it has the other states," Jordan said. "Gun ownership by good, law-abiding citizens is not a danger to the public."