On April 3, 2023, Governor Kevin Stitt proclamed it NRA / ORA day. This is the first time a state has shown this type of support for the Second Amendment and Second Amendment civil rights advocacy groups such as the NRA and ORA.
We did not know one meeting with Oklahoma legislators would lead to such a historic day. That’s exactly how it happened. Thanks to the work of NRA State Rep. Travis Couture Lovelady and Karel Brewster, we were connected to lawmakers that were ready and willing to support the rejuvenated efforts and leadership of the ORA. ORA President, Mark Vaughan, went to the capitol to accept the Governor’s newly minted proclamation that April 3 was now NRA and ORA day in Oklahoma.
After the day’s legislative session, lawmakers were invited to a meet and greet hosted by the ORA board to get to know our organization better. Wayne LaPierre even recorded a special message commemorating the day for the NRA and ORA. However, a day such as this cannot be celebrated without a little bit of fun, and so the training division at the Oklahoma City Gun Club brought out a team of Range Safety Officers and opened multiple ranges.
There are many to thank, including Suzi Rouse and the numerous volunteers at the Oklahoma City Gun Club, the Oklahoma Rifle Association board, as well as all the state, county, and local elected officials who came out.
State of Oklahoma, Executive Department, Proclamation
Whereas, the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) was originally founded in 1871 for the purpose of serving as America’s national organization dedicated to the patriotic endeavor of training civilians in the use of military arms so as to enable patriotic citizens to be fully prepared to come to the defense of their country in times of war and national crisis; and
Whereas, the NRA is America’s longest standing civil rights organization; together with more than five million members, the NRA are pro-defenders of history’s patriots and are diligent protectors of the second amendment; and
Whereas, the Oklahoma Rifle Association (ORA), with eight hundred members and growing, is the official NRA Oklahoma-affiliate for the State of Oklahoma; and
Whereas, the NRA and ORA, representing the firearms and shooting community in Oklahoma, promotes and provides for the safe enjoyment of firearms through competitions, matches, training, and other organized activities within the state; and
Whereas, the NRA and ORA collaborates with and supports firearm-related cubs, organizations, and manufacturers to benefit the state; and Whereas, in recognition of its significant contributions to the state;
Now Therefore I, Governor J. Kevin Stitt, do hereby proclaim April 3, 2023 as National Rifle Association and Oklahoma Rifle Association Day in the State of Oklahoma.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the state of Oklahoma to be affixed. Done at the Capitol, in the City of Oklahoma City, this thirty-first day of March, in the Year of Our Lord two thousand and twenty-three and of the State of Oklahoma in the one-hundred and fifteenth year.
