By: Journalist Marley Hutchins (OU)
On Thursday, the zero-star members of the House of Representatives heard SNU-501, a controversial bill that would require Oklahoma residents to pass a background check before purchasing a semiautomatic weapon. The bill inspired intense, passionate debate from the room full of newcomers.
Rep. Noelle Brezillac from Southern Nazarene University wrote this bill to protect the citizens of Oklahoma from gun violence.
“My motivations for writing this bill were to protect individuals from the harm that can occur when a dangerous individual has a semiautomatic firearm, such as a school shooter,” Rep. Brezillac said. “It would put a lot of responsibility on those who want to own semiautomatic firearms because it requires them to step out and own up to the responsibility of having such a deadly weapon.”
Some delegates, such as Rep. Mia Veale from Oklahoma Wesleyan University, had reservations about the bill from the start.
“My personal stance for most things is small government,” Veale said. “One of the big problems for me with the bill was the possibility of false incrimination. The author was questioned and stated that the license would go with the name and the owner of the firearm, but if that firearm was stolen a crime committed with it, the crime would be committed to the owner of the firearm, whether that person was involved in the crime or not.”
Rep. Aristotle Orsini from the University of Tulsa was in favor of the bill at first but had second thoughts as more amendments were brought.
“I think the bill was a really good idea that was killed by amendments that did not take into account the full extent of the bill,” Orsini said. “I remained in favor of the bill until the very last second when questions ended, and I realized that the bill had become dilatory. I still agreed with the message and purpose of the bill, but I could not faithfully vote to pass it seeing as how it was dilatory.”
Many delegates agreed with Rep. Orisini’s original point of view, including Rep. Gabriel Ivey from the University of Tulsa. “I voted for it. I tend to be a little more liberal on the side of gun control,” Rep. Ivey said. “I feel like it’s more a question of weighing out how much inconvenience it would cost a law-abiding citizen to get this gun legally versus will it be able to save lives.”
Rep. Carter Lowery from Oklahoma State University was also in favor of the bill.
“I think it would have had a large effect on the way that people in Oklahoma think about guns and respect their power,” Rep. Lowery said.
Although the bill did not receive enough votes to make it out of the House of Representatives, Representative Brezillac was not deterred.
“I am grateful that the body heard me, and I am just grateful that I was able to push for some different legislation that goes against the status quo,” Rep. Brezillac said.