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“The Problem With Jon Stewart” host talks with Sen. Nathan Dahm about gun regulations making Americans less safe.
Jon Stewart’s AppleTV program is called “The Problem with Jon Stewart.”
For the episode released Friday, Stewart’s problem seemed to be state Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow.
“What you’re doing is you’re bringing chaos to order,” Stewart tells Dahm less than two minutes into a nine-minute segment about Dahm’s efforts to deregulate firearms.
In reality, Dahm said Friday, he and Stewart talked for more than an hour and a half when they met two weeks ago in New York, and the exchange wasn’t as contentious as the edited version might appear.
“It was a good conversation,” Dahm said. “Jon was a really nice guy before and after. Nothing like Piers Morgan.”
Nine years ago, Dahm achieved a certain degree of national notoriety from a gun control debate with Morgan, then a CNN host.
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Dahm said he was under no illusions when he agreed to the Stewart interview but added, “You know me. I’m not afraid of anything.”
Asked how he felt about the interview after seeing the final cut, Dahm said, “Of course I’m glad I did it.”
During the interview, Stewart argued that gun deregulation has not made anybody safer and offers the rising number of gun-related deaths as support for his stance.
“In every other place in your life, you want to bring order,” Stewart said. “Guns are the outlier for you.”
When Dahm replied that fentanyl and obesity cause many more deaths than guns, Stewart replied, “And you’re the guy saying, ‘You know what would help (obesity)? Ice cream.’”
Dahm maintained that the U.S. Constitution gives the right to bear arms unique standing because of the phrase “shall not be infringed” and that fatherless homes and other social factors are to blame for gun violence, not the guns themselves.
“Eighty percent of school shooters came from either fatherless or broken homes,” said Dahm.
“So you would say no guns for fatherless homes,” interjected Stewart.
“No, that’s not what I’m saying,” Dahm replied.
By opposing most forms of gun control, Stewart asserted, Dahm has contributed to making the country less safe for everyone, including law enforcement.
“The person is the threat — not the firearm, not the knife,” Dahm said.
Stewart boiled it down for Dahm: “You want to say, ‘I’m a Second Amendment purist, and I’m making it safer.’ You’re not. You’re making it more chaotic. And that’s not a matter of opinion. That’s the truth.”
When Stewart asked whether Dahm sees requiring voters to register is an infringement on their rights, Dahm replied, “Does the right to voting say, ‘Shall not be infringed’?”
While the Second Amendment is the only one of the 10 comprising the Bill of Rights with the phrase “shall not be infringed,” similar terminology, including “shall make no law” and “shall not be violated,” does appear in others.
Stewart noted that Dahm supports a ban on drag show performers reading to children and asked why.
“Because the government does have a right to protect —” Dahm began.
“I’m sorry,” Stewart interjected, cupping a hand to his ear.
“Because the government does have a right in certain instances to protect children — “ Dahm began again.
“What’s the leading cause of death amongst children in this country?” Stewart interjected again. “And I’m going to give you a hint. It’s not drag show readings to children.”
Gallery: Highlights from bills filed for Oklahoma’s 2023 legislative session
Minimum age to carry firearms
House Bill 1001, by Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland, reduces the minimum age at which a person is allowed to carry or transport a concealed or unconcealed weapon to 18 years of age from 21 years of age by reference to the Oklahoma Constitution’s provisions regarding the minimum age to vote.
Second Amendment protection

House Bill 1002, by Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland, would let any county sheriff detain or arrest any federal employee while enforcing a buy-back, confiscation or surrender of firearms, accessories and ammunition in the sheriff’s jurisdiction.
Changing the state question process

Senate Joint Resolution 5, filed by Sen. Warren Hamilton, R-McCurtain, would ask voters to amend the Oklahoma Constitution to allow state questions to be on ballots in only odd numbered years. Also, a state question or constitutional amendment that would remove any rights of state residents would be required to pass by a majority of electors in the state as well as by a majority of electors in at least two-thirds of the state’s 77 counties.
House Joint Resolution 1018 by Rep. Tammy Townley, R-Ardmore. Raises the required signature threshold for citizen-led constitutional amendments from 15 to 20% of registered voters. Also requires an equal distribution of signature collection in the state’s five congressional districts. Would require majority approval among Oklahoma voters to take effect.
School choice proposal

Senate Bill 822 by Sen. Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville, would allow for education savings accounts in which taxpayer funds could be used for private school tuition or other education expenses in lieu of a student attending public school.
Senate Bill 943 by Sen. Shane Jett, R-Shawnee

Senate Bill 943 by Sen. Shane Jett, R-Shawnee, stipulates students in counties with fewer than 10,000 residents could only qualify for educational vouchers if they attend a “trigger” school district: those that teach about climate change, promote animal rights activism, encourage the defunding of police, promote Marxist ideology, disparage the Second Amendment, own books that contain obscene material, teach banned concepts on race or gender and those that violate school bathroom laws or teach about gender identity in a way that promotes “gender confusion.”
Slate of bills from Senate Education Committee chair

Sen. Adam Pugh, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, filed 13 bills aiming to recruit, retain and reward teachers, in addition to other education reforms. He requests $241 million to increase starting teacher pay and boost state minimum educator salaries across the board. His plan also includes $50 million for school safety grants, $25 million for paid maternity leave, and $15 million to incentivize Oklahomans to spend at least four years in an Oklahoma classroom after graduating from a teaching college.
Senate Bill 656 by Sen. David Bullard

Senate Bill 656 by Sen. David Bullard would make “the father or second parent of an unborn child” liable for necessary and appropriate medical costs during pregnancy.
Putting abortion to a vote

House Joint Resolutions from Rep. Charles McCall and Rep. Cyndi Munson propose a constitutional amendment that would let Oklahoma voters decide to legalize abortion. It would not require the governor’s signature if passed by both houses of the Legislature.
Race Massacre reparations

House Bill 1627, by Rep. Regina Goodwin, D-Tulsa, would appropriate $300 million “to implement a program of reparations for damages to persons and property” in Tulsa’s 1921 Race Massacre.
In May 2022, an Oklahoma judge allowed a lawsuit by the survivors of the incident seeking reparations for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre to proceed. Reparations are also being sought out for descendants of those affected by the destructive rampage, which also left close to 10,000 people homeless.
Addressing problems at the polls

Senate Bill 266, by Sen. Dave Rader, R-Tulsa, would allow limited sharing of election day poll workers at locations hosting more than one precinct.
Senate Bill 481 by Rader makes threatening or intimidating an election official a felony offense.
Transgender health care

House Bill 1101 by Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland, would prohibit health care professionals from providing, attempting to provide or making referrals for puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and gender-reassignment surgeries.
Clarifying Oklahoma’s abortion ban

Senate Bill 834 from Sen. Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville, adds rape and incest exemptions to the state’s abortion ban. The bill also clarifies that the state’s abortion ban does not apply to ectopic pregnancies or fertility treatments and does not prohibit the sale or use of any type of contraception.
Prohibiting sex ed

House Bill 1780 from Rep. Danny Williams, R-Seminole, would ban sex education programs in schools.
Psilocybin research

House Bill 2107 by Rep. Daniel Pae, R-Lawton, would allow Oklahoma colleges and universities to study the use of psychedelic mushrooms to treat conditions such as depression, PTSD and traumatic brain injuries.
Defining criminal lewdness

Kymber Sage performs at the 2022 Tulsa Pride Festival.
House Bill 2186 from Rep. Kevin West, R-Moore, makes it illegal to host drag queen story hour on public property or in places where a minor could see the event. The bill also makes it illegal for anyone to stage on public property an “adult cabaret performance,” which includes drag queens, strippers, topless dancers or go-go dancers.
Senate Bill 503, by Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, would allow municipalities to deny a permit for any “public display of lewd acts or obscene material” in public places or where children could see them. The law would cover parades, shows, concerts, plays and any other activity where a minor could witness lewd acts or obscene material or any person could unwillingly see them.
Continued work on medical marijuana oversight

House Bill 1347 by Rep. Scott Fetgatter, R-Okmulgee, would force the OMMA to rebid a contract for the state’s seed-to-sale marijuana tracking system. The agency would have 30 days to ask for proposals and pick a winning bid.
Senate Bill 177 by Sen. Cody Rogers, R-Catoosa, would give cannabis businesses a choice of inventory tracking services to use from three to five vendors.
Senate Bill 440 would let the OMMA set limits on the potency of THC, the primary psychoactive compound found in marijuana.
House Bill 1014 prohibits new medical marijuana dispensaries from being established within 900 feet of most places of worship. Another bill filed in the Senate includes the same limits at 1,000 feet.
House Bill 1616 requires any elected or appointed official serving in state, county or city government who has ownership in a medical marijuana business, or conflict of interest, to notify OMMA.
Sen. Jessica Garvin, R-Duncan, has several marijuana-related proposals, including a bill that would require doctors who recommend medical marijuana to see patients in person unless the patient is homebound.
House Bill 2012 by Trish Ranson, D-Stillwater

The Stillwater Democrat is trying again to eliminate the straight-party voting option.
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