Oklahoma governor signs bill banning contracts for firearm discrimination

Oklahoma will ban state and local government contracts with municipal bond underwriters and others that "discriminate" against the firearm industry under a bill signed into law Monday by Gov. Kevin Stitt.

The law, which takes effect Nov. 1 and applies to contracts worth $100,000 or more, requires written verification from companies that they do not have "a practice, policy, guidance, or directive that discriminates against a firearm entity or firearm trade association."

"Some of the nation's largest banks have turned their backs on gun manufacturers and firearms retailers," bill sponsor State Sen. Casey Murdock, R-Felt said in a statement. "We shouldn't be rewarding these woke institutions with taxpayer-funded state contracts when they've made it clear they don't share our values."

Senate Bill 500 won final passage on April 28 in a 73-16 House vote, following a 38-8 Senate vote in March. Similar bills stalled in the Republican-controlled legislature in previous years.

A 2022 Oklahoma law prohibiting contracts with fossil fuel industry "boycotters" landed Barclays, Bank of America (BAC), JP Morgan, and Wells Fargo (WFC) on state Treasurer Todd Russ' blacklist, making them unable to underwrite governmental bonds in the state. A constitutional challenge to the law brought by a state pension recipient led to a permanent injunction blocking its enforcement in July. The state has filed an appeal with the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

Unlike that law, SB 500 does not extend the contract ban to investment services for pension and other funds.