By: Journalist Colin Udall (OSU)
House Representative Ritsma (OBU) presented his bill, OBU-505, on firearm education in the Senate today after it passed 36-13 in the House of Representatives. Rep. Ritsma (OBU) spoke to the Senate stating that the bill was for the safety of children, and that the Senate ought to favor it regardless of pro or anti gun sentiments. OBU-505 states that firearm safety education would be implemented in Oklahoma school districts that receive federal funding and would have instituted an elective course in these districts. OBU-505 leaves much discretion on the logistics of the bill to the State Department of Education. The bill failed in the Senate by a vote of 6-11.
Representative Ritsma (OBU) answering questions in the Senate
Rep. Ritsma said in an interview “The purpose was essentially gun safety. There are a lot of kids in underserved neighborhoods that are around guns, but they don’t know what to do around them.” “Guns are a reality in Oklahoma, so they should know how to act and respect that.” Rep. Ritsma also said for the record that utilizing the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution was not for partisan matters but rather because it is a right that citizens have. “There were a few issues with it” Rep. Ritsma stated further that “…some of the amendments got a little messy from the House” and “I was leaving it up to the Department of Education to decide, but ultimately I should have listed that in the bill.” In response to it passing the House but not the Senate, Rep. Ritsma said “ What many Senators told me was exactly why it failed…because they believed it to be dilatory.” “It just came down to formatting issues.”
Rep. Ritsma concluded by stating that the formatting of OBU-505 needed to be cleaned up.