Amending the Oklahoma Constitution
Article 2, Section 26 of the Oklahoma Constitution (our state version of the Second Amendment) needs to be re-written. Thre are two reasons we believe this is necessary. First, the wording of the section itself is problematic. In addition to this, three court rulings have effectively nullified any protection provided by our state’s constitution. In fact, the Oklahoma Supreme Court has said, in essence, we only have as much right to keep and bear arms as this year’s Legislature decides we have. OK2A.org has filed legislation to address these issues in 2013 (HJR1026) and in 2015 (HJR1009). Both measures were held up by the State Senate. We will likely refile this measure in 2016 or 2017.
If passed by the Legislature, the measure will go to the Secretary of State (not the Governor) to be placed on the next general election ballot for a vote of the people. Once adopted, the state courts will be forced to use the highest level of judicial scrutiny, referred to as strict scrutiny, when reviewing Second Amendment law.