06/08/2022
Good morning, how are you all today? Great, I hope. As we approach the June 28th primary election, here are a few thoughts as I hear from some constituents throughout Senate district 28.
No matter what side of the aisle you are on, fuel prices seem to be the biggest topic. Prices are at an all time high and so are profits for the oil companies. There does need to be some changes instituted by congress and the President to help alleviate the prices at the pump. You can’t convince me that when fuel was lower that the production, imports or exports or anything else really had a significant change. Oil companies, I am sure are only telling you what they want you to hear. Obviously, that is a national issue and is going to be nearly impossible for our state legislature to have an impact on change for that.
Next, same s*x marriage. In 2014 The US Supreme Court refused to review the case that found Oklahoma’s ban unconstitutional, the federal Tenth Circuit of Criminal Appeals ordered the state to recognize same s*x marriage. This question was posed in our candidate forum this past Saturday night. Of course, all 6 Senatorial candidates, recognized the bibles stance on marriage, however, I also recognized the right of the people to choose whom they wanted to marry. It’s not my job as a Senator to legislate to you who you love and or marry. That is your choice and your decision.
Gender was another one of the questions. We are all born with certain chromosomes, some are for a girl, some for a boy and some have both. Oklahoma has enacted legislation that requires you to use your genders restroom. If you are to identify as an opposite s*x, they require a single use restroom for those who differently identify. As for athletics go, since 2015, the OSSAA has had rules in place concerning transgender athletes. Transgender athletes have to be in the process of transitioning, and while they don’t need to have undergone s*x-change surgery, they have to have hormone levels at a certain level for a prolonged period to compete. The OSSAA has not had one transgender athlete try and compete since this rule was put in to place.
Gun legislation must be addressed as a portion of the problem of all the recent mass shootings. The weapons are not the root cause of the loss of life, but they are a contributing factor. I have stated that I support a 72-hour waiting period for the purchase of semi-automatic rifles. Yes, mental health is a contributing factor as well. Yes, hatred and pure evil are a contributing factor. You see it’s what’s called and unbroken chain of events. All the components must be in place for these mass shootings to happen. Evil or mental health, a weapon, now that’s an interesting word, weapon. A weapon is not limited to a firearm or a rifle. It is a plane, it is a fertilizer bomb, it is a vehicle, it is a multitude of things. BUT you can be assured of two things; One, all the components MUST be there for these atrocities to occur and two, we’re never going to stop them all, unfortunately. Here’s an idea folks, obviously with what we are doing now, it’s not working. Instead of us having insanity, lets at least try something different. I don’t want your guns, I don’t want to infringe on your right to buy what ever weapon you want, under law. I just want to change the waiting period. If the man in Muskogee had 3 days to think about the rampage he was about to embark on, would they have recovered 30 rounds from a 223? I don’t know that answer and neither do you. He may have used the 40-caliber handgun he purchased days before. There are no magical answers or remedies but please, lets try something different.
As we are less than 3 weeks away from casting our ballots, I would ask that you vote. Obviously, I want you to vote for me if you can. However, if you don’t and you cast your ballot for another candidate, I thank you for exercising your right by voting. Voting is the most important thing you can do on June 28th.
