By: José Niño
State Senator Nathan Dahm filed “Kyle’s Law” to protect Oklahoma residents from politically motivated prosecution in defensive gun use cases.
According to a report by FOX 23, Senate Bill 1120 is built to prevent lawful Oklahomans from being forced to go through harrowing trials that are carried out for “political reasons.”
Dahm stated that if SB 1120 is signed into law, it would also guarantee that “victims of malicious prosecution would be able to receive compensation for expenses and damages.”
Dahm’s legislation comes in the wake of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial. Rittenhouse was put on trial for a standard self-defense incident, where he killed two leftist assailants and wounded another assailant on August 25, 2020.
Rittenhouse claimed self-defense, and the jury acquitted him of first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree attempted intentional homicide, and first-degree reckless endangerment charges on November 19, 2021. For Rittenhouse, this trial was a brutal ordeal that had significant financial and psychological costs for the young man.
In a press release, Dahm declared “Kyle Rittenhouse should never have been charged.”
Subsequently, Dahm started talking about SB1120, noting, “It is our duty to protect the rights of the people we represent, and the right to self-defense is paramount. This bill will ensure that what happened to Kyle Rittenhouse cannot happen to the people of Oklahoma.”
Senator Dahm was one of the most prominent senators leading the charge for passing Constitutional Carry in Oklahoma, a milestone that was finally achieved in 2019. Oklahoma is one of the most pro-gun states in the nation, occupying the ranks of 5th and 9th place for Guns & Ammo magazine’s rankings for most gun-friendly and most pro-concealed carry states, respectively.
Like a principled proponent of the Second Amendment, Dahm understands the importance of pushing the envelope and looking for every possible way to bolster the Second Amendment and protect it from the many unconventional threats it faces these days.
The battle to restore gun rights is far from over, and Dahm is one of the few elected officials who recognizes this political reality, hence his constant efforts to expand gun rights.
José Niño is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. Contact him via Facebook, Twitter, or email him at [email protected]. Get his e-book, The 10 Myths of Gun Control, here.