Oklahoma House OKs Allowing Armed State Attorneys

Oklahoma’s attorney general and assistant attorneys general would be able to carry firearms virtually anywhere in the state under a bill approved in the House.

The House voted 82-11 for the bill that authorizes those state officers to carry anywhere in the state, except while off-duty on private property where the owner prohibits it.

House author Rep. Steve Martin of Bartlesville says the bill is needed because state prosecutors make “very powerful, very dangerous enemies.” Opponents suggested there are no documented cases of death threats against the attorney general or his assistants.

Rep. John Bennett of Sallisaw says he believes lawmakers should also be allowed to carry firearms anywhere in the state. But Martin opposed that suggestion of giving legislators “unjustified privileges” that average citizens don’t enjoy.