Anti-Gun Sue Tibbs’ Forces Hobson’s Choice on Open Carry with Trick Ballot Question
OpenCarry.org Urges Rejection of Poison Pill Ballot Question.
Oklahoma –-(Ammoland.com)- It’s bad enough for state Representative Sue Tibbs (nominally an R) to oppose restoring the right to open carry in Oklahoma and want to punt to voters’ opinion via ballot question.
But it’s ‘below the belt’ politics to push a gun rights ballot question on voters when the only available answers are . . . anti-gun!
29 states allow open carry in public without any license, generally at age 18. But Sue Tibb’s House Bill 1796 asks voters only whether to restore the right to open carry in Oklahoma to those citizens over 21 years of age who have paid for a license for the privilege to conceal a sidearm.
“This ballot question is phrased to fail – it’s a setup,” says Russ Cook, Vice-President of OK2A and founder of the online Oklahoma open carry petition.
“Voters who do not believe in the Second Amendment will vote no, and most gun owners will also vote no against the licensing/registration requirement,” explains Cook, asking “what will Tibbs ask voters to weigh in on next? Whether citizens should have the right to vote if they pay a poll tax?” HB 1796 is a “poison pill ballot question designed to fail so as to deter future open carry reform in Oklahoma,” says OpenCarry.org co-founder John Pierce.
“Open carry is the Second Amendment,” adds Pierce, and “pro-Second Amendment voters will vote no on HB 1796 because the American tradition rejects licensing schemes when it comes to fundamental Constitutional rights.”
OpenCarry.org calls on the Oklahoma House of Representatives to adopt Representative Steve Martin’s pre-filed floor amendment to strip out the poison pill ballot question.
43 states allow open carry, and Florida is widely expected to raise this number to 44 this year. Oklahoma should ante up and make it 45!
Carry on!About:
OpenCarry.org was founded in 2004 by Virginia gun-rights activists John Pierce and Mike Stollenwerk and has served to ignite the “Open Carry Movement” that is sweeping the country. In addition to being an invaluable legal resource for gun owners, the site has quickly grown to be a social networking portal for thousands of American gun owners. Visit: www.OpenCarry.org