OKLAHOMA CITY — Two Oklahoma senators filed a bill Thursday to close a loophole that they say causes unfair punishment for felon passengers in vehicles.
Senate Bill 46, authored by Sen. Paul Scott and Rep. Jim Olsen, keeps felons from being punished for riding in vehicles with drivers who are legally carrying a firearm.
The bill removes language prohibiting a convicted felon. person serving on probation, or any person previously adjudicated as a delinquent child or a youthful offender as being in the commission of a felony crime if that person was an adult riding in a vehicle as a passenger while there is a firearm in the vehicle.
“The legislature has worked extremely hard in recent years to address prison overcrowding and to be smarter on crime in Oklahoma. This loophole has unnecessarily caused individuals to be put back in prison because they weren’t aware that the driver of the vehicle had a gun in the car,” said Scott, R-Duncan. “If we don’t change this, we could be potentially putting peaceful individuals who are trying to restart their lives back in prison for up to ten years that had no ill intent to anyone. They simply unknowingly got a ride from someone who is legally carrying a firearm in their vehicle.”
The bill was requested by the Oklahoma Second Amendment Association.
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