Oklahoma Says Concealed Guns OK For Zoos, Parks

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill Tuesday allowing people to carry concealed guns in public places like zoos and parks.

House Bill 2010 enables people to conceal carry in places under a public trust, and prohibits those spaces from enforcing no-gun policies, Tulsa World reported.

However, in what many view as a compromise between gun-rights advocates and those who object to guns in public view, open carry is now illegal in the same public places.

“We understand the fact that people do not want to go to the zoo seeing some guy carrying his grandpa’s rifle or shotgun over his shoulder while people are trying to look at the animals,” said Don Spencer, president of the Oklahoma Second Amendment Association in remarks to the Purcell Register.

“I don’t consider this a compromise. I consider this saying you can carry a gun,” Spencer said. Spencer said he hopes authorities will be reasonable as they enforce the new law in cases of brief exposure, such as when a shirt tail is pulled up.

The bill was sponsored by Republican Reps. Garry Mize and Sean Roberts, and by Republican Sen. Kim David. The measure was written after people carrying guns were turned away September 2018 from a 66 acre recreation area in Tulsa, Ok. called the “Gathering Place.”

“I think the best defense for a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” Governor Stitt said after signing the “constitutional carry” bill in February, which permits Oklahoma residents to carry a firearm without obtaining a permit.

The new laws takes effect Nov. 1.