| Updated: 1/21 9:16 am |
Published: 1/19 7:37 pm
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A local lawmaker is proposing changes to the state's open carry law.
He wants to add parks and recreational areas, where youth sports are held, to be able to ban open or concealed firearms.
Parks are considered safe zones for kids. Oklahoma District 13 Representative Jerry McPeak wants to make sure it stays that way.
"I think it will be a good idea to keep kids safe around here," said a father of four Edrese Johnson.
FOX23 reached out to the lawmaker but hasn’t heard back. He is authoring House Bill 1607.
"If you block people from carrying that have a right to carry someone could come in here or at a basketball game or soccer game where there is no security,” she said. “I don't want my kids hurt."
Kelly Walton, a mother of two told FOX23, criminals are going to carry regardless. She says there isn’t any other protection at the events.
"You don't pass security,” she said. “Tulsa police is not there. You don't have anyone there."
But parents, like Edrese Johnson, say the proposed law is comforting.
"I love my kids to death. I wouldn't dare want anything to happen to them," said Johnson.
He says the last thing any of these kids should be worried about is someone packing heat.
"Just got to keep the kids safe," Johnson told FOX23.
Walton says she'll feel safest knowing people who might have a bad agenda won't be the only ones carrying at these events.
"If that means me carrying and somebody's out here hurting someone, you do what you have to do to save someone's life," she said.
The first reading of the bill will be on February fourth.
