Citation(s) from the GunPolicy.org literature library
Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 2024 ‘Guns in Vehicles in Oklahoma.’ Guns in Public. San Francisco, CA: Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 22 December
Relevant contents
Guns in Vehicles in Oklahoma
Oklahoma prohibits the transportation of a loaded handgun, rifle or shotgun in a "landborne" motor vehicle over a public highway or roadway. A rifle or shotgun may be transported clip or magazine loaded (not chamber loaded), however, if it is in an exterior locked compartment of the vehicle, in the trunk, or in the interior compartment of the vehicle. Any person (except a convicted felon) may transport a rifle or shotgun in a motor vehicle if the firearm is concealed behind a seat or within the interior of the vehicle, and is not clip, magazine or chamber loaded. Furthermore, any person (except a convicted felon) may transport a rifle, shotgun or handgun, unloaded and open (meaning in plain view, a firearm case, a gun rack, an exterior locked compartment, or a trunk) in a motor vehicle at any time.
Oklahoma permits the carrying of an unloaded shotgun, rifle or handgun, open and not concealed and without a handgun license, for any legitimate purpose not in violation of the Oklahoma Firearms Act of 1971, including when going to or from the person's residence or vehicle, or a vehicle in which the person is riding as a passenger, to a place designated or authorized for:
- Firearms repairs or reconditioning;
- Firearms trade, sale, or barter, or a gunsmith;
- Hunting animals or fowl;
- A hunter safety course;
- Target shooting, or skeet or trap shooting; or
- Any lawfully recognized firearms activity or event.
State law prohibits carrying a "concealed handgun" without a license or as otherwise provided by law. "Concealed handgun" is defined to include any handgun "carried hidden from the detection and view of another person … in a vehicle which is operated by the person or in which the person is riding as a passenger."
Any person operating a vehicle, or who is a passenger in a vehicle wherein another person who is licensed to carry a concealed handgun and is carrying a concealed handgun or has concealed a handgun or a rifle or shotgun in such vehicle, is not considered a violation of possession prohibitions within a vehicle, if the licensee is in or near the vehicle.
A person stopped pursuant to a moving traffic violation who is transporting a loaded handgun in the vehicle without a valid concealed handgun license, whether the loaded firearm is concealed or open in the vehicle, shall be issued a traffic citation for $70, plus court costs for transporting the firearm improperly, and the person may be arrested for any other violation of law.
State law prohibits any person from boarding a bus with a firearm concealed upon or about his or her person.
State law also prohibits the transportation of a firearm in a boat, except when hunting animals in compliance with existing state and federal law. Any person in possession of a valid concealed handgun license is not criminally liable of transporting a handgun if the handgun is concealed on or about his or her person while on the boat.
Finally, no person, property owner, tenant, employer, or business entity is allowed to maintain, establish, or enforce any policy or rule that has the effect of prohibiting any person (except a convicted felon) from transporting and storing firearms in a locked motor vehicle, or from transporting and storing a firearm locked in or locked to a motor vehicle on any property set aside for any motor vehicle…
[Editor's note: The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence regularly updates its webpages with new data as US gun regulation evolves state by state. For the most up-to-date information on US gun laws, please refer to the Giffords URL below]