Oklahoma lawmakers are once again looking at whether the state should pay people, through their taxes, to learn how to safely handle a gun. Last week, state Sen. Jo Anna Dossett, a Democrat from Tulsa, led an interim study in the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee examining whether Oklahoma should offer an income tax credit to residents who complete a firearm safety course or obtain a state carry permit.
The idea is not new. As reported by KOSU, Dossett is picking up a proposal first floated by then-Republican Sen. Nathan Dahm of Broken Arrow, who introduced Senate Bill 1090 back in November 2019 for the following legislative session. Dahm's bill would have offered non-refundable state income tax credits to cover course fees, fingerprinting, photo processing and licensing costs tied to concealed carry permits, according to the Oklahoma State Senate. That bill failed without ever getting a committee hearing.
Dahm's proposal came just months after Oklahoma enacted House Bill 2597, the state's Constitutional Carry law, which took effect in November 2019 and let eligible adults 21 and older carry handguns concealed or openly without a state permit or mandatory safety training, per the Office of Governor J. Kevin Stitt. Under the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act, Oklahomans now have the right to carry without a license and without a training course, and the KOSU report notes Dahm's original goal was to preserve some voluntary incentive for training once that mandate disappeared.
A Fiscal Hurdle That Sank the First Attempt
Money was part of what killed Dahm's bill. A 2020 fiscal impact analysis by the Oklahoma Tax Commission estimated SB 1090 would have reduced state personal income tax collections by roughly $4.4 million in Fiscal Year 2022, a projection built on anticipated claims for training and licensing fee credits. Dossett has said Dahm's 2020 proposal also included details she considered vague, and per KOSU, she plans to introduce her own bill that adds specificity about which trainings would qualify for the incentive, along with proof requirements for anyone claiming the credit and a directive telling the Oklahoma Tax Commission how to implement the law if it passes.
Findings from the August interim study point to similar concerns: lawmakers heard that any new tax credit bill would need clear proof guidelines for the Tax Commission along with strict confidentiality protections for gun owners filing tax records, according to the Oklahoma State Senate. Dossett has emphasized that whatever she introduces will not infringe on the state's constitutional carry laws, per KOSU's reporting.
Building on Last Year's Gun Safe Tax Break
This is not Dossett's first attempt at using the tax code to nudge gun owners toward safer practices. In 2025, she co-sponsored Senate Bill 50 with Rep. Nick Archer, a Republican, which established a state sales tax exemption for gun safes and other firearm safety devices effective November 1, 2025. The bill, covered previously by earlier Hoodline reporting as it moved through committee, ultimately became law without the governor's signature and gained widespread bipartisan support, according to the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation. Dossett also led an interim study on tax breaks for gun safes and safety devices in 2025, laying groundwork for the current effort.
Oklahoma Senate projections from February 2025 estimated SB 50's sales tax exemption would cost the state about $178,000 in lost revenue in Fiscal Year 2026. Lawmakers weighed that figure against an estimated $200 million spent annually by Oklahoma taxpayers on firearm injuries and fatalities, a comparison that cited CDC figures during committee hearings, per the Oklahoma State Senate.
How Oklahoma Compares Nationally
Expert testimony from the National Conference of State Legislatures during the August study found that more than a dozen states offer sales tax exemptions on gun safes, but West Virginia, which enacted its credit in 2016, is currently the only state offering a personal income tax credit, up to $50, for firearm safety courses. According to NCSL, about 10 states require firearm training courses to purchase a gun, and roughly the same number require training to obtain a concealed-carry permit, per KOSU's report.
Tommie Johnson, whose full title was not specified in KOSU's reporting, told the outlet he supports incentivizing gun safety but does not want training to be required for gun ownership. Johnson said reasonable incentives could help Oklahomans familiarize themselves with guns, framing voluntary education as a middle path between mandates and doing nothing.
The Public Health Backdrop
The debate over voluntary training incentives is unfolding against a grim public health picture. GIFFORDS Law Center gave Oklahoma an F grade on its December 2025 Annual Gun Law Scorecard, ranking the state 12th highest in the nation for firearm mortality with a rate of 19.1 gun deaths per 100,000 residents, and reporting an average of 813 firearm deaths per year statewide, according to GIFFORDS. CDC mortality data analyzed by the group for 2024 showed firearm suicides accounted for 68% of all gun deaths in Oklahoma, while firearm homicides made up 29%, with the state's overall gun death rate rising 6% between 2015 and 2024.
That backdrop has already fueled concern about firearms in public spaces closer to home. Hoodline previously reported on a case in which shots were fired near Scissortail Park in Oklahoma City, a story that referenced the state's 2019 permitless carry law while examining local firearm incidents. Whether Dossett's proposed tax credit could pass where Dahm's 2020 bill failed remains an open question, with the specifics of proof requirements, Tax Commission administration and privacy protections still to be worked out before any bill is formally introduced.
