Lawton Walmart Shooting Sparks Oklahoma Gun Debate

It was during lunch yesterday when the news of the Lawton Walmart active shooter situation broke across social media in town. We noticed the horde of police headed that way as we arrived nearby at Rib Crib, and it seemed everyone was wrapped in disbelief and discussion about it by the time we sat down.

Thankfully, and spoiler alert, the situation ended quickly with the shooter being the only person injured.

The lunch table debate. 

As I ate my delicious smoked turkey, the conversation around the table grew quickly from how crazy a day it was becoming, to what your reaction should be if you found yourself in the same situation.

In 2025, Oklahoma is more like Texas than Texas is. The influx of California has not been a bragging right for the Lone Star State, and as such, things there have changed dramatically.

Alternatively, while we're currently experiencing a similar invasion from the West Coast on a much smaller scale, the Sooner State spirit is still alive.

In any conversation about active shooters in Oklahoma, the conversation very quickly veers to the Stand Your Ground laws and our ultimate right to defend oneself, but it's a lot of macho vibrato more than anything.

Oklahoma’s Gun Culture in Context

It takes some weighty stones to pop into a public space in Oklahoma to start waving around a firearm. Oklahoma is among the top gun-owning states in the nation, and even that metric is built on people who don't mind sharing that kind of information. I'd wager our 54% of homes with firearms in them is closer to 75%, and growing daily.

That's just an opinion, not a fact. A lot of Oklahomans would never even admit to owning a firearm because it's just not anyone's business. It's none of your doctor's business, it's not the government's business, it's not even your neighbor's business.

Around the lunch table, the general consensus was "I'd skin my smokewagon and go to town..." but big words don't make a big man. In the heat of the moment, as the adrenaline pours into the veins, this would probably be a worst-case scenario in a situation like that for the average concealed carry Okie at the store.

Truth be told, and this is backed by years of expert data and incident tracking metrics, a person's best defense in an active shooter situation is to run. Removing yourself from the situation is the best way to ensure you're not part of it.

This is not what most gun owners want to hear. We practice, train, run simulations in our heads, think tactically in real time, playing out the what-ifs throughout the day... and the moment all of that comes to a head, I'm supposed to run?

Yep.

Why Experts Say Running is Best

While refusing to intervene may make the Uvalde, TX, Police Department look like cowards, nobody would similarly judge the person who is just trying to get their bread and milk at the store.

Now, this is the ideal outcome to a very horrible situation, and only applies when applicable. Sometimes a person can't simply run away.

This is why Oklahoma is such a prime place for these particular freedoms. If you found yourself unable to run, you could ultimately defend yourself in the moment. You just have to be situationally aware of everyone else too.

You wouldn't only be escalating a situation for yourself, but also for bystanders. Lord knows you wouldn't want to accidentally hit one of them with an errant or bad shot. But if push comes to shove, you have to do what must be done when a moment presents itself.

It's also worth noting that if you draw your righteous pistol on a perpetrator looking to do harm, when the police show up, they'll likely also see you as a threat. Let's hope their 90 days of training doesn't cost you an arm, leg, or worse, your life.

The Risks of Drawing Your Weapon

Ultimately, and it's worth reminding every Oklahoman, you're only responsible for your own safety, and those you are responsible for... Kids, spouse, family member, etc, you are not responsible for the safety of those around you. They are.

Is that a cold statement? A little bit, but the shiver doesn't make it less true. In an ideal world, everyone would take their own safety as seriously as their expectation for others to rescue them. As the old saying goes, an armed society is a polite society.

Going on the offensive and drawing your lawfully carried firearm is a last resort when plans A, B, and C have failed, and you have no other choice... or if you have the split-second tactical advantage.

What Responsibility Really Means

If that moment ever comes for you, pray for success, for health, and recovery after the fact. Not a single tale of a person defending themselves comes with a flowery story. Even taking the life of a criminal is excruciating in the mind.