Carrying a Firearm While Intoxicated in Oklahoma

What Is Carrying a Firearm While Intoxicated?

Oklahoma's carrying a firearm while intoxicated law applies to a person who carries or uses a shotgun, rifle, or pistol while under the influence of alcohol, a hallucinogenic substance, or an unlawful or unprescribed drug. The law also covers prescribed medication, but it uses a different standard for those cases.

The statute is aimed at carrying or using the firearm. It does not say that simply being near a gun, owning a gun, or having a gun somewhere in the same house or vehicle automatically proves the charge.

That difference becomes important in vehicle cases. If police find a gun in a console, bag, back seat, trunk, or another location accessible to more than one person, the location of the gun and the evidence connecting it to the accused person need to be examined carefully.

What Prosecutors Have to Prove

The prosecution has to prove that you carried or used a shotgun, rifle, or pistol and that you were under the influence of one of the substances covered by the law at the time. Those are separate factual questions, and evidence that proves one does not automatically prove the other.

For example, an officer may have strong evidence that you had been drinking but weak evidence that you were the person carrying the gun. The reverse is also possible. Police may have no real dispute that you were carrying a pistol, but the video, witnesses, your speech, movements, and other evidence may not support the claim that you were under the influence.

Drinking Alcohol Is Not the Same as Proving You Were Under the Influence

The law does not set a .08 blood alcohol threshold for this charge. That is an important difference from Oklahoma DUI law. An admission that you had one or two drinks does not by itself answer whether you were under the influence. A receipt from a bar, the smell of alcohol, an open container, or the fact that you had been drinking may become part of the evidence, but prosecutors still have to prove the intoxication required for this particular charge.

Police may rely on body camera video, statements, observations about speech or coordination, field sobriety testing performed during a traffic investigation, witness accounts, or chemical testing when it exists. Rob reviews the actual evidence rather than assuming that an officer's description of someone as “intoxicated” settles the issue.

Prescription Medication Is Treated Differently

Taking medication that was lawfully prescribed to you does not automatically violate this firearm law. For prescribed medication, Oklahoma uses a more specific rule. The State must show that the aftereffects of the medication affected your mental, emotional, or physical processes enough to result in abnormal behavior. That makes the nature of the medication, when it was taken, the prescribed dosage, what police actually observed, video of the encounter, and other evidence particularly important.

Carrying a Gun Is Different From Merely Owning One

The fact that a gun belongs to someone else does not defeat the charge. You can carry another person's firearm, just as ownership of a firearm does not necessarily establish that you were the person carrying it at the relevant time.

Shared vehicles and residences can create real factual disputes. If several people had access to the location where police found a gun, Rob looks at where it was located, who knew it was there, who had access to it, what the witnesses said, what the body camera shows, and what evidence actually connects the firearm to the person who was charged.

This is one place where the wording of the accusation matters. A prosecution based on the idea that you were actually carrying a pistol is different from an assumption that you must have been carrying it merely because police found a gun somewhere nearby.

Penalties for Carrying a Firearm While Intoxicated

Carrying a firearm while intoxicated is a misdemeanor in Oklahoma. A conviction carries a fine of $50 to $500, 10 days to six months in the county jail, or both. Jail is not mandatory in every case because the court can impose the fine or a deferred or a suspended sentence instead. If a jail sentence is imposed, however, the statutory range begins at 10 days and goes up to six months.

There is also a specific consequence for someone who has been issued an Oklahoma handgun license. After the required OSBI hearing and determination, the law calls for a six month suspension of the handgun license and a $50 administrative fine.

A conviction for carrying a firearm while intoxicated does not automatically mean you permanently lose your right to own or possess a gun. Other charges, prior convictions, protective orders, or court imposed conditions can create separate firearm restrictions, but those issues have to be evaluated independently.

What Happens to the Gun After an Arrest?

Police may take the firearm during the arrest or investigation and hold it as evidence. That does not mean the firearm is automatically forfeited to the government simply because a carrying while intoxicated charge was filed.

A firearm is not automatically forfeited simply because someone is charged with carrying it while intoxicated. Forfeiture may become an issue if the case also involves certain felonies, drug charges, domestic abuse, or another offense that has its own rules for seizure or forfeiture.

Evidence That Can Matter in These Cases

The police report is only one part of the case. Rob compares what the officer wrote with the other potential evidence that may further explain the encounter. Depending on the situation, important evidence may include:

• body camera or dash camera video;
• surveillance video from a bar, store, home, parking lot, or other location;
• statements from passengers or other witnesses;
• receipts showing when alcohol was purchased or consumed;
• photographs or video taken close to the time of the arrest;
• medical information that explains balance, speech, fatigue, or other symptoms;
• prescription records when medication is involved;
• the location and condition of the firearm;
• who owned or had access to the firearm; and
• statements attributed to you by police.

A person who is tired, injured, anxious, diabetic, dealing with another medical condition, or affected by prescribed medication may display symptoms an officer interprets as intoxication. The question is not whether an officer wrote down an observation. The question is whether the evidence actually proves the charge.

Search and Seizure Issues

Many carrying a firearm while intoxicated cases begin with a traffic stop or some other police detention. When the gun is discovered during a vehicle search, Rob examines why the vehicle was stopped, how long the detention lasted, why officers searched the vehicle, whether anyone consented, and whether police had another lawful basis for the search.

The same issue can arise outside a vehicle. If officers detained and searched someone on the street, entered a home, opened a container, or seized a firearm during another investigation, the legality and scope of what police did may affect what evidence the State is allowed to use.

Suppression of evidence does not automatically mean every case will be dismissed. Its effect depends on what evidence was obtained unlawfully and what admissible evidence remains after the court rules on the issue.

Related Charges Can Change the Case

A carrying a firearm while intoxicated charge is frequently not the only allegation arising from an encounter. A traffic stop may also lead to a DUI or drug charge, while a disturbance call may produce allegations involving reckless conduct, assault, pointing a firearm, or another weapons offense.

Those charges should not be blended together simply because they arose on the same night. Each charge has its own requirements, and the same piece of evidence may have very different significance depending on what prosecutors are trying to prove.

Multiple charges also affect how the case should be evaluated as a whole. Statements, video, the location of the firearm, the reason for the police encounter, and the sequence of events may be relevant to several charges at once.

What to Do After an Arrest

If police want to question you about why you had the gun, how much you drank, whether you used drugs, or what happened before they arrived, you should decline to answer questions and ask to speak with a lawyer. Trying to explain the situation while you are being investigated can create statements that later become part of the prosecution's evidence.

As soon as you reasonably can, write down what happened while the details are still fresh. Record where you were, who was with you, when you drank or took medication, where the firearm was located, what police said and did, and the names of people who saw the encounter.

Preserve any evidence that may disappear. Text messages, photographs, video, receipts, prescription information, and the names of witnesses may become important when the police report does not tell the complete story.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it illegal to carry a gun after drinking any alcohol in Oklahoma?

Not simply because you consumed alcohol. The charge requires proof that you were under the influence while carrying or using a shotgun, rifle, or pistol. The amount you drank and the timing can still become important evidence. The prosecution may rely on observations, statements, video, testing, and other evidence to try to establish intoxication.

Does Oklahoma use a .08 BAC limit for carrying a firearm while intoxicated?

No. The carrying a firearm while intoxicated law does not contain a .08 blood-alcohol threshold. That means the case should not be analyzed as though a DUI BAC rule automatically controls the firearm charge. The State still has to prove that you were under the influence within the meaning of the firearm law.

What if the gun belonged to someone else?

Ownership alone does not answer the question. A person can carry someone else's firearm, and a person can own a firearm without carrying it at the time police encounter them.

When a gun is found in a shared vehicle or another location accessible to several people, the evidence connecting the gun to the person charged becomes important. Rob looks at the location of the firearm, access to it, witness statements, video, and the rest of the circumstances.

What if I was taking prescribed medication?

Prescription medication is treated differently from alcohol and unlawful or unprescribed drugs. The State has to show that the aftereffects of the prescribed medication affected mental, emotional, or physical processes enough to result in abnormal behavior.

Simply showing that you took a medication is not enough to establish that part of the charge. The medication, dosage, timing, medical information, observed behavior, and video may all become relevant.

Will I permanently lose my gun rights if I am convicted?

Section 1289.9 does not impose an automatic permanent ban on possessing firearms. If you have an Oklahoma handgun license, however, the law specifically provides for a six month suspension and a $50 administrative fine after the required OSBI proceeding.

Other legal restrictions can arise from separate charges, prior convictions, protective orders, or conditions imposed in a particular case. Those issues need to be evaluated separately rather than assuming this misdemeanor permanently eliminates firearm rights.

Can the State keep my firearm?

The firearm may be taken and held as evidence, but the filing of this misdemeanor does not by itself make permanent forfeiture automatic. A separate legal basis for forfeiture may exist when other charges or circumstances are involved.

If police have retained a firearm, the criminal case and the legal basis for continued possession of the gun both need to be examined. The answer depends on why it was seized and what other allegations are involved.