For the second time in a year, changes to Tulsa’s gun ordinances are going before the city council for approval.
Tulsa hasn’t enforced ordinances prohibiting lawful firearm possession in parks since last year.
Oklahoma prohibits cities from having gun laws stricter than the state’s, but Mayor’s chief of staff Jarred Brejcha said the changes are more than just a formality.
"If the bad guys choose to break the law by carrying a firearm into a park, the good guys ought to be able to do so as well. We agree with that," Brejcha said. "So not only do we need clean up our ordinances to align them with state law, we think it makes sense from a policy standpoint — and we agree with state law."
Formal changes stalled with the council once, and there are signs it could happen again because the new ordinance OK’s guns while still banning things like slingshots. Brejcha said the difference is gun owners’ training.
"I suppose it's probably a good idea to keep kids from shooting slingshots, rocks out of slingshots at each other, so I don't think those are comparable," he said.
Another ordinance change is eliminating from the mayor’s emergency powers the ability to stop any form of gun or ammo distribution.
