Oklahoma legislators are advocating more guns in more places with several bills pending this session. At least 10 bills would create more areas where someone can carry a gun.

Rep. Paul Wesselhoft, R-Moore, authored House Bill 1400, a measure that would allow any adult to openly carry a firearm.

He said some exceptions or an increase on the age limit could be added to the bill, but that he thinks it will help to deter criminals and protect rights.

“We want to buttress the Second Amendment,” Wesselhoft said.

He cited a 2006 study by the FBI that showed most criminals conceal their firearms instead of carrying them openly as an example of a statistic that supports his position.

Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City, authored House Bill 1553, which would allow concealed-carry permit holders to bring guns into public buildings, professional sporting events and casinos and bypass security checkpoints by showing IDs and their permits.

She said the government should not be able to restrict the places people entrusted with concealed-carry permits can take their guns.

She cited work by conservative gun rights advocate John R. Lott Jr. to support her position. Lott’s research showed the majority of guns used in self-defense only had to be drawn and shown, not fired, to be effective.

Kern and Wesselhoft said they have concealed-carry permits.

More bills pending

Senate Bill 896 by Sen. Ralph Shortey, R-Oklahoma City, would allow certified law enforcement agents and faculty members to carry guns on university and college campuses, and House Bill 1796 by Rep. Sue Tibbs, R-Tulsa, would create a license to openly carry a gun. Neither returned multiple telephone messages seeking comment. The National Rifle Association declined requests for comment.

Other pending bills would allow legislators to carry firearms and concealed-carry permit holders to carry guns on university, college and technology center campuses.

Open carry controversial

The open carry bills have proved controversial among Oklahoma Rifle Association members, said Charles Smith, executive director.

Some members are concerned that Oklahomans who carry firearms openly here would get in trouble if they crossed state lines, and some worry that open carriers don’t provide criminals more of a deterrent than concealed carriers do and could spark fear in the general public.

Research shows guns are not necessarily a measure of protection.

The University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine conducted a study from 2003 to 2006 of people who were assaulted in Philadelphia, and the research showed the victims who were armed with a gun were almost five times as likely to be shot by their assailants as those who were not.

The Violence Policy Center, a gun control advocacy group, performed research that showed the states with the highest rates of gun ownership also had the highest rates of gun deaths.

High homicide rate

Brian Malte, the director of state legislation for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said the homicide rate in the U.S. speaks for itself.

“If more guns meant a safer environment, then the United States would be one of the safest places on Earth,” Malte said.

The U.S. has one of the worst homicide rates in the world among developed countries, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The U.S. homicide rate compares most closely to those in Argentina, Mozambique and the eastern European country of Moldova.

The U.S. lags behind other developed nations like Australia and every European nation except many former Soviet republics.

Gun groups stand behind concealed-carry measures as a way to keep society safer, said Smith of the Oklahoma Rifle Association.

He said those who take the time to get concealed-carry permits have to pay substantial fees and get training, and they should be allowed to go where they want with their guns.

“Either we trust them, or we don’t,” he said.