Gun safety requirements for foster parents

Oklahoma is getting sued over safety requirements for foster parents who own firearms. The lawsuit may draw attention to similar policies in other states.

Oklahoma's Department of Human Services (DHS) requires foster parents to keep their weapons in their homes in locked storage, to not carry weapons if a child is present (unless they are required by their employer to do so), and to keep any weapons in a car unloaded and locked away.

The lawsuit argues that Oklahoma's requirements violate foster parents' 2nd Amendment rights.

"Why should a foster parent be stripped of his or her right to self-defense, or their ability to defend their foster child, simply to appease some bureaucrat's anti-gun philosophy?" said Alan M. Gottlieb, Executive Vice President of the Second Amendment Foundation. 

"Our agency policy does not prohibit gun ownership by foster parents," countered DHS communications director Sheree Powell. "It does, however, require reasonable safety measures to protect the children in DHS care, many of whom come from traumatic and tragic circumstances." 

New Hampshire's administrative rules require foster parents to lock away guns in the home, with ammunition stored separately. Similarly, any firearm in a car must be "secured and inaccessible." New Hampshire's rules do not specifically address open carry or concealed carry by the foster parent outside the home.