As Governor Decides, Lowe Urges Veto of Senate Bill 1081

OKLAHOMA CITY — State Rep. Jason Lowe, D-OKC, released the following statement urging Gov. Kevin Stitt to veto Senate Bill 1081, which is an attempt to preempt the federal government from enforcing any future federal “red flag laws.”

“We often hear Second Amendment advocates talk about ‘responsible gun ownership’” Lowe said. “So the question needs to be asked ‘what happens when a gun owner is not responsible?’

“When a gun owner isn’t exhibiting signs of responsible behavior, whether it is by domestic abuse or through a pattern of behavior that a court deems counter to responsible gun ownership, through due process, red flag laws give law enforcement an opportunity to mitigate a deadly situation before more people are killed or severely injured.

“Not only should Governor Stitt veto Senate Bill 1081 to protect Oklahomans from gun violence, but also because he took an oath to uphold the Constitution. This particular law is blatantly unconstitutional.

“State law does not supersede federal law. If the federal government passed a red flag law, the only way that law wouldn’t go into effect in Oklahoma is if the United States Supreme Court rules it is unconstitutional.

“If the court rules it unconstitutional, it won’t be allowed to go into effect in Oklahoma, and we won’t have had to spend any money on a lawsuit. If Senate Bill 1081 is signed into law, Oklahoma will be sued, and we will lose.

“To put it in a more direct way, this law does absolutely nothing for gun owners except spending their tax money on lawyers to protect them from a law that doesn’t currently exist and never threatened their ability to be a ‘responsible gun owner.’

“Laws like this are passed to help political futures rather than the future of Oklahomans. If Governor Stitt is sincere in his attempts to cut government spending, he should save Oklahomans some money by vetoing this bill.”