A Democratic State Senator is considering creating tax incentives for safe gun ownership. The idea is to improve and revive a failed 2020 bill proposed by one of the legislature’s most conservative Republicans.
Tulsa Democratic Senator Jo Anna Dossett held an interim study last week looking into whether the state should offer tax breaks to Oklahomans who engage in firearm safety training.
The study continues what former Broken Arrow Republican Senator Natham Dahm started in 2020, when he proposed Senate Bill 1090. The bill failed without a committee hearing.
But supporters of encouraging gun owners to educate themselves remain. Among them is Oklahoma County Sheriff Tommie Johnson, but not without some trepidation.
“I can appreciate incentivizing safety for our citizens who own guns, but I don’t want it to be a requirement that they participate in this to own guns,” Johnson said.
Ten states require firearm training courses to purchase a gun and about just as many require training to conceal-carry, according to the National Conference of State Legislators.
But Dossett says she won’t infringe on Oklahoma’s constitutional carry laws.
“To no degree would I ever consider amending the current provisions of the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act, which provides Oklahomans the right to carry without a license and without a training course,” she said.
Dossett said the bill she plans to run will address the problems with Dahm’s 2020 proposal.
“I definitely agreed with the intent and spirit of it, but I thought that maybe there would be some details to be worked out,” she said. “The bill itself seemed a little vague in places.”
She said she’ll look to add specificity about what kind of trainings would qualify for the tax incentives, proof requirements for claimants and a directive for the Oklahoma Tax Commission to implement the law if it passes.
And unlike Dahm, she has a framework to help her get the bill across the finish line.
Last year, Dossett led a similar interim study looking into tax breaks for Oklahomans who purchased gun safes and safety devices, like trigger locks. That idea spurred her proposal of Senate Bill 50, which gained widespread bipartisan support and eventually became law, eliminating taxes on gun safety devices altogether.
Gun safety, she said, is something everyone can get behind.
“Whatever side of the aisle you come from, I thought, this is a place where disparate views could come together and have agreement on something that we all value; We all value safety,” Dossett said. “So how can we work together to move forward with safety in mind?”
Sheriff Johnson said providing reasonable incentives for Oklahomans to familiarize themselves with guns, whether they already own them or plan to purchase one, is a step in the right direction.
“I think from a law enforcement perspective, and certainly these thoughts are my own, I believe that a trained, educated individual operates so much better in high-stress situations,” he said. “And so, for law enforcement to know that your community is educated in this space of gun ownership and lethal force – when they can and can’t – I think allows better decisions to happen by our community when they are placed in those critical situations.”
This article was originally published by KOSU. You can see the original story here.