By Mark Chesnut The Truth About Guns
A measure recently passed by lawmakers in Oklahoma and signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt will make it legal to brandish a firearm in the Sooner State when defending your home, private property or business.
The bill, which went into effect immediately upon the governors’ signature, further bolsters the state’s Stand Your Ground and Castle Doctrine laws and will likely lead to even lower violent crime.
In a nutshell, House Bill 2818, authored by Republican State Rep. Jay Steagall, expands the justified “defensive display of a firearm or other deadly weapon” to include defense of property.
“What this bill does is provide some clarity for where the Castle Doctrine is applied, and in this statute, thankfully signed by the governor two days ago, expands that boundary of our castle doctrine up to the edge of your property,” Rep. Steagall told KFOR. “I think what the statute does is provide clarity for the court systems to help them determine what the actual boundary line is when it comes to our Castle Doctrine.”
Under the new law, defensive display of a firearm includes verbally informing another person that you possess a firearm or have one available, exposing or displaying the weapon in a manner where a reasonable person would understand that it’s meant to protect against unlawful force or placing your hand on a firearm while it’s “in a pocket, purse, holster, sling scabbard, case or other means of containment or transport.”
“The defensive display of a firearm or other deadly weapon by a person is justified when and to the extent a reasonable person believes that physical force is immediately necessary to protect himself, herself, or another person against the use or attempted use of unlawful physical or deadly force by a person, premises owner or controller in self-defense, or in defense of real or private property, located on any premises, owned, rented, leased, or occupied by permission of the premises owner or controller, whether or not a person is in possession of a valid handgun license issued pursuant to the provisions of the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act, and shall not be deemed a criminal act,” the new laws states. “The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to a person who: a. intentionally provokes another person to use or attempt to use unlawful physical or deadly force, or b. uses a firearm during the commission of an unlawful act involving force or violence.”
The new law also states: “The provisions of this subsection do not require the defensive display of a firearm or any other deadly weapon before the use of defensive force or the threat of defensive force by a person who is justified in the use or threatened use of defensive force.”
While opponents of the measure claim it allows anyone else to point a gun at anyone at any time, the text of the bill proves that’s simply not true.
“It shall be unlawful for any person to willfully and without lawful cause point a firearm, knife, or any other deadly weapon, whether loaded or not, at any person or persons for the purpose of threatening or with the intention of discharging the firearm or with any malice or for any purpose of injuring, either through physical injury or mental or emotional intimidation, or for purposes of whimsy, humor, or prank, or in anger or otherwise,” the law states.
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Sometimes you just have to establish communications between a person defending his property and those who wish to take his property and jepardise his physical being.