Last week, your Oklahoma Legislature heard 187 measures in the House, 185 Senate bills and 2 House bills. I wanted to highlight a few important pieces of legislation for this update.

Senate Bill 585 passed by a vote of 56-25 and is on its way to the Governor. This bill defines habitual or willful neglect of duty as it relates to causes for removal of an individual from office, to include knowingly giving false testimony to a committee of either house of the Legislature; knowingly engaging in operations beyond the authority delegated to the agency served by or employing the officer; or repeatedly refusing to provide information to a committee, either house, or a member of the Legislature in a timely manner.

A bill I authored in the House creating the “Second Amendment Sanctuary State Act” passed the Oklahoma House of Representatives on Tuesday. Senate Bill 631 states that any federal, state, county or municipal act, law, executive order, administrative order, court order, rule, policy or regulation ordering the buy-back, confiscation or surrender of firearms, firearm accessories or ammunition from law-abiding citizens of this state shall be considered an infringement on the rights of citizens to keep and bear arms as guaranteed by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States and Article II, Section 26 of the Constitution of Oklahoma.

SB 631 ensures that the State Legislature will protect the unalienable right of Oklahomans to keep and bear arms as guaranteed to them by the Second Amendment. Recent action and rhetoric from the federal government has shown just how important this bill really is. We have made it clear to the feds, in Oklahoma we will stand up for our constitutional right to bear arms. This bill has an emergency clause attached to it, so it will go into effect as soon as it is signed by Governor Stitt.

Senate Bill 644, which I authored in the House, allows municipalities to authorize all or certain municipal employees to carry concealed firearms. Approval from the city council of the municipality will be required before employees will be allowed to carry. This bill passed the House by a vote of 83-11 and will now return to the Senate because there were House amendments attached to it.

Finally, Senate Bill 839 passed the House by a vote of 80-10 and has been sent to the governor’s desk for consideration. SB 839 specifies that a game warden shall not have the authority to use or place a game or wildlife camera on private property without the permission of the owner or controller of the property. This is an important piece of property rights legislation that will especially protect the citizens of Osage County from overreaching game warden enforcement. It is my hope that it will be signed quickly by the governor.

That’s it for this week. As we continue to discuss policy and consider legislation next week, I encourage my constituents in District 36 to contact my office with questions, comments or concerns at (405) 557-7322. You can view upcoming legislation on the House floor agenda on the Oklahoma House website. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you in the House of Representatives.

Sean Roberts represents District 36 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, which includes parts of Osage and Tulsa counties.