Oklahoma Law for carrying a 12 guage shot gun onto school grounds

[rdnekwomn73120]

My 18 year old son took his 12 guage shot gun onto school grounds while school was in session. He was arrested within 10 minutes or so and has been in jail awaiting his court date on the 22nd of this month....i have heard that it is a criminal felony but do not know Oklahoma law because i live in South Carolina...Is there anything that anyone can please tell me?? I have no idea why he had it on school grounds or what was going through his head at the time but i am just trying to find out some information...
thank you
jeannie

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Echo_Four]

18 USC 922- guns in a school zone is a federal issue as well. For more information on how the whole thing works (and an effort to make things better in Oklahoma) visit this site.

Federal Gun Free School Zones Act | OK2A

[Eagleks]

In Kansas.... it would NOT be Illegal .... NOR illegal per the Fedl law...... if he had to cross the school property in order to HUNT a particular area. If not, he's going to have serious issues....
Check two things :
1. Did he tell them he was crossing the school grounds in order to HUNT ....
2. I would imagine, Okla has laws similar to Kansas , related to hunting ..... etc. ... but that's what to check.

If he had it encased, etc. and ammo separated from it , there are also arguments IF ... BIG IF .... it was necessary to go across the school property to get where he needed to go .

But, if he was openly carrying one, not going hunting, etc...... it's a big UGH.

[ccw9mm]

Uncertain whether this is the only related statute involved, in OK. You haven't specified what, if any, statues were indicated in the charges.

A quick check of Handgunlaw.us for Oklahoma shows OK §21-1280.1:

OK §21-1280.1 Possession of Firearm on School Property

A. It shall be unlawful for any person, except a peace officer or other person authorized by the board of education of that district or governing body for any public or private school, to have in his or her possession on any public or private school property or while in any school bus or vehicle used by any school for transportation of students or teachers any firearm or weapon designated in Section 1272 of this title.

C. Firearms and weapons are allowed on school property and deemed not in violation of subsection A of this section as follows:

1. A gun or knife designed for hunting or fishing purposes kept in a privately owned vehicle and properly displayed or stored as required by law, or a handgun carried in a vehicle pursuant to a valid handgun license ...;
   
2. A gun or knife used for the purposes of participating in the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation certified hunter training education course or any other hunting, fishing, safety or firearms training courses, or a recognized firearms sports event ...; and
   
3. Weapons in the possession of any peace officer or other person authorized by law to possess a weapon in the performance of their duties and responsibilities.

D. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a felony punishable by a fine not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), and imprisonment for not more than two (2) years. Any person convicted of violating the provisions of this section after having been issued a concealed handgun license pursuant to the provisions of the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act, Section 1290.1 et seq. of this title, shall have the license permanently revoked ...

[OldVet]

Methinks the son is in it deeply. I wish there were more details.

[Spidey2011]

Methinks the son is in it deeply. I wish there were more details.

I've got to go with this. From the vague details we have, it sounds like the son screwed up big time. Some more info would definitely be helpful.

[Black Knight]

My advice would be to consult an attorney in Olkahoma preferrably the attorney handling his case. Maybe there is a way to reduce the charge from a felony to a misdemeanor.

[Duke Stukel]

I agree with Black Knight. You're much better off consulting an attorney who knows about the law in OK.

[paaiyan]

Consult an attorney ASAP. I am not one, however based on the details available your boy is in deep doodoo.

[oakchas]

OK from SC... that's a long walk to school... (has my 5 miles up hill both ways through chest high snow drifts beat). And we might as well insert a little levity into what appears to be a very bad situation for the young man.

In order to give any pertinent answers at all... we need more details...
And then of course, we aren't lawyers... and any that are probably aren't in Oklahoma.

If he was a student at the school:
If he was arrested within 10 minutes of being on the school grounds, somebody had to know he had a shotgun... He either told someone he was bringing it, or he had it out in the open (even encased you could tell it was some sort of long gun).

I'm assuming he wasn't a student at the school... but he could be... even at 18. And so was hunting or on his way to a hunt... But that sounds questionable too... was he still on school grounds when arrested? 10 minutes is a long time to cross school grounds...

Momma.. you need more details... Get them from your son's lawyer.

[bigmacque]

Situations like this are exactly why the gun laws are so darn difficult and why they should be cleared up. Granted we do not have a lot of details that we'd like to have and that might be useful, but here's a thought:

The gun was just sitting in the rifle rack in the truck, just like it normally does as he goes about his business, because after all there's nothing wrong with a rural resident that is prone to hunting with carrying around something that is viewed as perfectly normal. Until he crossed that school zone line.

I have to agree with previous posters in saying it's quite possible that he's in deep, but I pray he's got a way to wiggle out -- if indeed it was an innocent transgression.

[JDE101]

Definately not enough details. At 18, he could well still be a student there. However, what was he thinking taking a weapon onto school grounds???? Not the brightest thing to do. When I was a kid, people had gun in their cars and pickup trucks all the time if they intended to go hunting after school. BUT, that was back in the mid-late 50s! Times were way different back then. I walked a dozen blocks down the street in the city on the way to the YMCA and their rifle range with my .22 and no body gave me a second look.

Since Columbine, Virginia Tech, and a couple of other incidents, taking a gun onto school property has become a VERY serious matter, and the police and school administrators take it very seriously. AND, you have to have had your head buried in the sand if you don't know that! I really question what the young man was thinking!!! He could not have been thinking too clearly if he thought it was OK to take a gun onto school property.