Carol Martin’s Letter to Oklahoma State Senate

Oklahoma State Senate

STATE CAPITOL
2300 N. LINCOLN BLVD.
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA 73105-4808

March 31, 1997

To Whom It May Concern:

I have received reports that NRA-ILA State Liaison Mary Anne Bradfield is telling Colorado House Members not to vote for a Vermont-style right-to-carry amendment to Senate Bill 96 if it is offered. I understand that some members have been “threatened” with “F” ratings if they vote for Vermont-style right-to-carry.

As a staunch defender of the Second Amendment in the Oklahoma Senate, I urge you to stand on principle no matter who tells you to do otherwise.

Last year I offered a Vermont-style right-to-carry amendment in the Oklahoma State Senate. Although it did not pass, it received support from nearly one-third of the Senate, and I will continue to fight.

I returned Ms. Bradfield’s call around June 12, 1996, after my amendment failed. For the record, my conversation with Ms. Bradfield was the first direct contact I had with the NRA-ILA since I defeated an NRA-ILA endorsed incumbent in 1994. This incumbent, a Democrat, had come out publicly for banning semi-automatic firearms and against even a permit-style concealed carry law.

Ms. Bradfield’s tone was both annoying and condescending. The gist of the conversation was that Ms. Bradfield was upset about my motion to establish Vermont-style right-to-carry in Oklahoma, and that I got “so-called good gun people” voting against a pro-gun bill.

If the NRA-ILA and Ms. Bradfield wish to challenge my record to support the freedom of law-abiding, gun-owning constituents in Senate District 24, I look forward to a re-match. I’ll take my case to the grassroots NRA members and other gunowners who supported me in 1994. I am prepared to let them decide, and I know what they will do.

There are other groups truly committed to defending the Second Amendment which have proven their effectiveness at mobilizing grassroots gunowners in our fight for freedom. Reform of the carry laws in Oklahoma didn’t move until I was elected and these groups took on the entrenched anti-gun leadership in both houses of the Oklahoma Legislature.

I urge you to stand for freedom and liberty at any and every opportunity.

Sincerely,
Carol Martin
State Senator, District 24