Oklahoma is back in the news. After narrowly defeating a bill proposed by Republican representative Randy Terrill, that would remove ‘full personhood’ status from illegal aliens, paving the way for them to serve as laborers when needed, or be shipped to fruit plantations and poultry processing plants in other states like Arizona, instead of deported, a new firearms bill has passed the Oklahoma Senate.
The so-called “Pancho and Lefty” Bill is named for the lyrics in that famous country song, “wore his gun outside his pants, for all the honest world to feel”, and would allow Oklahomans, except for immigrants, to openly carry a firearm without a gun license or concealed carry permit. This would mean any legal Oklahoma resident could strap on a six shooter, and wear a side arm in public.
Oklahoma Republican Senator Steve Russell said yesterday, “Oklahoma has a long history of packing heat. From the Doolin-Dalton Gang, who shot it out against a posse of deputies and US Marshalls in 1893, to the kidnapping of an Oklahoma oilman by “Machine Gun” Kelly, to the 1936 shoot-out with Southwest Public Enemy Number One Pete Traxler. This is a return to our heritage, not a reaction to feeling powerless on a national level.” The Senator was not asked about feeling powerless on a national level.
When asked if this could lead to a lot of crazy, angry, road-raged, inbred, snaggle-toothed, immigrant-hating individuals driving around in trucks with holstered firearms, one spokesperson summed up the Republican position when he chuckled, “Yeah. Isn’t it great?”