Local law enforcement officials oppose proposal to allow open-carry firearms

By BOB GIBBINS

TAHLEQUAH DAILY PRESS — Three local law enforcement officials are joining with others to oppose a Midwest City man’s attempt to pass an “open carry” law in Oklahoma.

The Associated Press said Donald Ohse has garnered 1,300 signatures in a campaign to get legislators to pass the law. Ohse has a concealed carry permit, but believes it would be safer to carry his firearm in the open.

“I’d be opposed to something like that,” Police Chief Steve Farmer said. “I think it’d make people more nervous if they saw a gun on someone walking down the street.”

Farmer hasn’t had any personal communication from the Oklahoma Association of Chiefs of Police, but the organization has come out against the proposal.

“I think people might anticipate problems, and it could create some bad situations,” Farmer said.

Cherokee County Sheriff Norman Fisher said Wednesday that he has similar concerns about Ohse’s proposal.

“I don’t have a problem with the concealed carry law,” he said. “I think that’s working fine, but I think we’d be asking for trouble if people were allowed to carry a gun in the open.”

The Oklahoma Sheriff’s Association has also came out in opposition to the measure.

Fisher thinks such a proposal would “open up a can of worms.” He said people are required to pass a firearms course to receive a concealed carry permit, but he thinks continued training would be needed if a person could carry a firearm where it’s visible.

Northeastern State University Police Chief Clint Vernon had previously heard of Ohse’s proposal, and he sees problems with it – particularly in a school setting like NSU.

“If you walk into a school shooting situation and 15 people have guns on, you don’t know which one’s the bad guy,” Vernon said. “We have to sometimes make split-second decisions to save someone’s life or our own lives.”

He can foresee see innocent people getting hurt because they don’t know how to react when law enforcement enters a shooting scene.

Vernon said training is another key issue he thinks could be overlooked in such situations.

“We [officers] train regularly on active shooting,” he said. “There are all kind of dangers that would be involved if everybody has a gun.”

Vernon believes several hours of extended training would be required.

“They would need to know how to react in different situations,” he said. “It’s a scary predicament. You’re talking about some possible life-threatening situations.”

Ohse told reporters claims that such a law could lead to Old West-style shootouts is “fear-mongering.” He insists it would be safer for guns to be carried in the open.