State Senator Dahm introduces three gun-rights bills

Gun-rights legislation should get a fair share of attention during the new legislative session in February, as Republican State Senator Nathan Dahm has introduced three different bills relating to gun rights.

According to Dahm's news release, Senate Bill 548, the Second Amendment Preservation Act, legislation that will protect the right of Oklahomans to keep and bear arms by opposing all unconstitutional laws, orders, or regulations imposed by the federal government that violate the individual right to keep and bear arms as guaranteed in the Second Amendment.

Dahm is also sponsoring Senate Bill 401 which, according to his release,  states that licensed gun owners who have not been convicted of a felony will not be charged with a felony for possessing a weapon in a Gun-Free School Zone. The measure will close a loophole created by federal law, and protect law-abiding Oklahomans from wrongfully being charged with a felony.

Dahm says there are some gun-free school zones that extend out a thousand feet.

So, theoretically he says, someone who is three streets away from a school building could be charged with a felony.

"And you could be going for a job or something with your gun, legally in possession of it, now that we have open carry... and you could be in violation of the federal law and you could be charged with a felony," Dahm said.

The third bill being introduced by Dahm is Senate Bill 552, which according to his release, will allow any Oklahoman 21 years of age or older, and who is not a convicted felon, to keep a pistol in their vehicle for the purpose of self-defense.

Dahm says courts have ruled that cars are an extension of our homes.

"And you don't have to have a permit to have a gun in your home for self-defense, so I feel that you should be able to have that same right when you're in your vehicle," he said.

The new Oklahoma legislative session begins on February 4th.