NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, celebrated Oklahoma’s Gov. Kevin Stitt signing SB 500, the NSSF-priority Firearm Industry Nondiscrimination (FIND) Act, yesterday in Oklahoma City. The law prohibits state agencies and local government entities from entering into contracts with corporations that discriminate against the firearm industry.
Gov. Stitt made firearm industry protections a priority and promised attendees at NSSF’s SHOT Show® Governors Forum that he would sign the bill into law if it made it to his desk. Yesterday, Gov. Stitt delivered on that promise in a formal ceremony of bringing protections against financial discrimination for firearm-related businesses in his state. The signing ceremony comes on the heels of President Donald Trump issuing the NSSF-supported Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans Executive Order to ban “woke” debanking that targeted the firearm industry.
“With his signature, Governor Stitt made clear it is the government’s responsibility to protect the firearm industry from sinister corporate efforts to starve it of essential services such as banking, payment processing, software and insurance. He appreciates our unique status as the only constitutionally-protected industry in America,” said Darren LaSorte, Director of Government Relations – State Affairs. “The governor embraces the fact that we must thrive for his constituents in the Sooner State to exercise a fundamental right. Governor Stitt has also protected the state’s taxpayers from being compelled to enrich the large, ‘woke’ companies actively seeking to diminish their right to keep and bear arms. NSSF sincerely thanks state Senator Casey Murdock and state Representative Kevin West, the bill’s sponsors, for seeing this years-long battle through to the finish.”
“Our Second Amendment rights are a cornerstone of the well-being of our republic. I was proud to sign SB 500 into law, because Oklahoma will always defend the right to bear arms,” said Gov. Stitt. “I’m grateful for groups like the National Shooting Sports Foundation for their work to defend this right.”
Oklahoma’s FIND Act requires all large corporations seeking contracts valued at $100,000 or greater with the state and its municipalities to certify that they hold no discriminatory policies against firearm industry businesses. Contracts that are certified and later discovered to be out of compliance with the law will be subject to cancellation.
Gov. Stitt has made growing and protecting the firearm industry a priority in Oklahoma. Just this year, Vudoo Gun Works announced it will relocate operations to Prague, Oklahoma, from Utah and Oklahoma’s Department of Commerce announced in May that CBC Global Ammunition is bringing ammunition manufacturing to the state, an investment of $300 million and 350 jobs.
Oklahoma is the 11th state to enact FIND Act laws to prevent corporate discrimination. Others include Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Montana, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming. Similar legislation, also titled the FIND Act, was introduced in Congress by U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.) as H.R. 45 and by U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) as S. 137.
