Problem with Carry Reciprocity Amendments

[LuckyDucky]

It's been awhile since I've posted!

The reciprocity statute, 21 O.S. § 1290.26 has recently been amended by S.B. 1785 and S.B. 1733.

http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/Deliverdocument.asp?CiteID=69809

Both of the amendments amend the statute in different ways, without reference to each other.

How do we interpret the two amendments together?

There is an Attorney General Opinion from 2006 on interpreting amendments.

http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/Deliverdocument.asp?CiteID=445716

Also, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (where you'd end up if you were convicted of a violation of § 1290.26 and appealed) has followed the same interpretation procedure as in the AG Opinion.

Here is the problem:
Ultimately, it is up to a court to interpret the statute. The statute itself is unclear enough that it gives the courts leeway to screw you. Do you want to be a test case?

According to the AG Opinion, I would say we interpret the amendments together and read it as if you have a permit from another state, you can carry concealed or unconcealed here, and if you are from a constitutional carry state, you can only carry concealed.

I may be a bit cynical but I could see a cop investigate an open carrier, arrest the person for being from out of state, and then a court could interpret the law in a restrictive manner so the person gets convicted.

 

[xwing]

[font="Arial""]Some of the nuances will ultimately be up to a court to decide (although an AG opinion is a pretty strong indicator). But both of these amendments are great to see![/font]

 

[poopgiggle]

There was another thread on this.

The OSBI had been telling people that, if you're licensed in another state, you're allowed to carry however you could carry in your home state. So, for example, if your state is concealed-only, then you're only allowed to carry concealed in Oklahoma. It sounded fishy to me, and also really hard to enforce; are the cops seriously going to call in every time they stop an open-carrier with an out of state permit and make sure that this other state allows open carry?

Then Open Carry Oklahoma caught wind of this bullshit and OSBI quit saying that.

I know OSBI isn't the one who interprets the law, but to me this means that the conventional wisdom among law enforcement is that you can carry either way if you're licensed.

 

[LuckyDucky]

heck, a court could interpret "concealed or unconcealed license" as one phrase meaning that you have to have a license that allows BOTH concealed and open carry or else you can't carry here.