Creek County Sheriff Urges Residents To Carry Guns

The Creek County Sheriff is pushing for more people to carry guns legally, and he’s giving residents in his county a price break and changing his administrative office hours to make it just a little easier.

It was busy afternoon at the Creek County Sheriff's Office on Thursday, with people stopping by to submit their handgun carry license applications.

“There's so many more home invasions and we run a business,” Kellyville resident Ruth Seidell said.

“To protect ourselves,” her husband Larry added, finishing her sentence.

Sheriff John Davis says he's certainly noticed the increase in violence, both locally and around the country, and he's urging his residents to take a stand by getting their gun-carry permit for self protection.

“By no means am I saying the citizens should take the law into their own hands and just totally forget about law enforcement,” Davis said. “This is for you to protect yourself until we can get there and handle the situation.”

The sheriff said there are close to 1,000-square miles in the county and many spots are rural.

“We're not a municipality where your response time is gonna be 3 to 5 minutes,” he said.

Depending on location and manpower, Davis says it could take a deputy 30 minutes to respond to a call.

“Someone who is in dire need, whose life is in danger, time is of the essence,” he said. “People be aware of their surroundings and be ready to protect themselves, if need be.”          

It can be costly to get a license, between $200 and $300. That's figuring in paying for the required Oklahoma Self Defense Act Class, fingerprinting fees, passport photos and the OSBI background check.

In the past two years, the sheriff says more than 1,100 people applied for gun-carry permit in Creek County.

“I see responsible gun owners,” Davis said. “These are every day working people that have to support a family as well. So if I can give them a break or help them that way, I'm all for it.”

The sheriff can't change the state costs, and legally he says he can’t waive his office’s fingerprinting fee, but he can, and has, reduced the fees. It now costs $10, down from $25. That's what brought Larry and Ruth Seidell to the sheriff’s office Thursday.

“It's just a little incentive to go ahead and get it done right away,” Larry said.

The sheriff also is opening the sheriff's administrative office for half a day, one Saturday each month, to make it less stressful on those who work during the week.

“It's just some way that I feel we can help the citizens of Creek County,” Davis said.

The administrative building will be open for fingerprinting on these Saturday date from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.:

• January 16
• February 20
• March 19
• April 16
• May 21
• June 18
• July 23
• August 20
• September 24
• October 22
• November 19
• December 17