Interesting Oklahoma law I have questions about.

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I'm not an attorney and this is just a guess, but the law referenced is a "State" law, not a city ordinance and would probably be intended for the commercial bus lines, not local city transit.

It's also possible that city ordinances could adopt state law and charge someone under that title.
 

Poke78

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I'm not an attorney and this is just a guess, but the law referenced is a "State" law, not a city ordinance and would probably be intended for the commercial bus lines, not local city transit.

It's also possible that city ordinances could adopt state law and charge someone under that title.

That and they can place the "gunbuster" sign on the bus window like Tulsa Transit.
 

Sanford

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Ran across this from another forum ... dated July 2013.
The city of Edmond operates a public bus line called CityLink. As I work in Edmond I decided to have a conversation with the CityLink folks about this.

Here is the email I sent to CityLink:
I have a question I would like clarification/confirmation on as I may need to use Citylink services in the near future.

As I understand it, Citylink is run by the City of Edmond, therefore making it essentially a city governmental agency.

Section 1903 of Title 21 in Oklahoma Statutes makes it illegal to carry a concealed weapon on any bus within the state. There is nothing in this law regarding the carry of an unconcealed firearm.

Section 1289.24 of Title 21 in Oklahoma Statutes states that the state has preemption when it comes to firearm laws within the state and municipalities may only adopt ordinances regarding the discharge of firearms, or the improper transport of firearms.

As a person with an Oklahoma Handgun license who generally carries a handgun, I want to confirm that I would not be denied service or have law enforcement called for openly carrying a handgun while using Citylink.

And this is the response I got from them:
Citylink discourages the carrying of any weapons on buses due to the close nature of contact with other passengers and the overall safety of both Citylink personnel and the general public. With this being said, persons who show valid identification and a valid Oklahoma Concealed Weapon License may openly carry an approved firearm while on Citylink buses. Concealed weapons may not be carried pursuant to the Bus Passenger Safety Act.

Not real big on the having to show an ID and license to ride the bus, but at least they acknowledge the legality of it.

Feel free to use part or all of the text from my original email to CityLink a public bus line in your area to force them to at least acknowledge that open carry is legal on the bus.
 

Burk Cornelius

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What is the definition of bus?

For the purposes of the Statute that Dennis quoted, this is a bus

[Broken External Image]Title 47. Motor Vehicles
[Broken External Image]Chapter 1- Definitions of Words and Phrases
[Broken External Image]Section 1-105 - Bus

Every motor vehicle designed for carrying more than ten passengers and used for the transportation of persons; and every motor vehicle, other than a taxicab, designed and used for the transportation of persons for compensation.
 

hrdware

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Uhhh... I thought there was something in the last couple years that addressed carry on public bus service.

I agree, I'd like to hear some of our legal eagles' opinions. Maybe this is something that we need to see if OK2A can address and try to get one of our legislators to author some legislation to correct? No way would I surrender my weapon to an employee of a private company, much less a bus driver. A certified and on-duty LEO... depends much more on the circumstance, but it might end up more in the, "I'm not resisting your illegal seizure of my lawfully-carried firearm, but I am voicing my strenuous objection and filming this on my phone as proof," kinda thing.


<edit> I would say I never ride a bus... but my wife rode our local public transit a couple weeks ago after dropping my truck at the mechanic's shop (I was at work), so who knows what may happen in the future? She doesn't have her permit yet, either. I've been telling her ever since she got her citizenship almost 2 years ago...
Right after OC became legal in Oklahoma, MetroTransit (the bus line in OKC) started throwing a big stink about people being able to openly carry handguns on city buses. City buses are generally run by the city and therefore, due to state preemption, cannot create their own rules regarding firearms. State law specifically says you can not carry a concealed firearm onto a bus, they say noting about unconcealed firearms.

Charter buses, Greyhound, things like that are private companies that can create whatever rules they want, however public transportation that is owned by a city has to follow state law.

OK2A and some state legislators tried to change the law to allow concealed and open carry on buses, but it did not get enough traction. Probably one of those items legislators didn't hear enough complaints about from their constituents to do anything about.
 

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