Governor Mary Fallin of Oklahoma vetoed 15 measures on Tuesday, the 29th of April. She described the measures as serving "no significant interest of the citizens". Three of the measures were issues pushed by second amendment supporters that passed the legislature nearly unanimously.
HB 3367 is Oklahoma's knife preemption bill. It passed the House 88-3 and the Senate 45-1. It provides the same protection from local government overreach to knives that Oklahoma already provides for firearms. Several other states have passed similar laws.
HB 2539 cleans up some antique language in the law about justifiable homicide. It passed the House 77-6 and the Senate 45-2.
HB 2461 is a "shall sign" law that requires Chief Law Enforcement Officers (CLEOs) to allow Oklahoma residents to pay the $200 tax necessary to obtain class III NFA items, which primarily concern gun mufflers, short barreled rifles and shotguns, and automatic firearms. This follows a trend in other states to require CLEOs to process the necessary paperwork. Arizona and Kansas recently passed similar measures. It passed the Oklahoma House 92-1 and the Senate 46-0.
Second Amendment activists have already been busy calling on the Legislature to override these vetoes. It is hard to see what the Governor hopes to accomplish when she vetoes measures with such overwhelming support. The House voted to override the veto of HB 2461, on the NFA transfer tax. The override passed 87-3 on May 4th.
An Oklahoma Legislator, Rep. Joe Dorman, D-Rush Springs voted for the measure. From watchdog.org:
Dorman characterized the wave of vetoes early this week as a “gubernatorial temper tantrum.
Dorman is believed to be the Democrat most likely to challenge Fallin for Governor this fall.
Tim Gillepsie, President of the Oklahoma Second Amendment Association characterized the actions this way:
Governor Fallin claimed that she took the actions to "send a message" to the Legislature. She complained that they were not working on the actions that she deemed important.
Gillespie said Fallin’s decision to veto the Second Amendment bills in a conservative state during an election year was “the definition of stupid.”
The results of Governor Fallin's actions remain to be seen.
Update: Senate is not considering override of Governor Fallin's vetoes. From the Tulsa World:
OKLAHOMA CITY —— The Oklahoma Senate has no plans to pursue the House's veto override of a gun bill, leaders of the upper chamber said last week.
©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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