Q: Can a felon hunt with a replica muzzleloader in Oklahoma since by definition it’s not a firearm?
I would like to know if I can hunt with a muzzleloader in Oklahoma, I’m a convicted felon but I’ve never been to prison. I’m not on probation and all my fines are paid off. I asked the chief of the law enforcement department of the Oklahoma wildlife conservation and he said I could not hunt with a black powder, I think the law says differently though and I would like to know for sure if I’m right that way I don’t get caught up and end up in jail. Thank you.
A:
Convicted felons are prohibited under State law to possess "any pistol, imitation or homemade pistol, altered air or toy pistol, machine gun, sawed-off shotgun or sawed-off rifle, or any other firearm."
A firearm is defined by Oklahoma law as any weapon from which a shot or projectile is discharged by force of a chemical explosive.
Federal law has a provision for antique firearms that carves them out as an exception to the definition of firearm (and this includes certain replicas of antiques). Without going into the details of the federal law, it appears Oklahoma has no such equivalent provision for antique firearms. Therefore, while federal law may (emphasis added to the word "may") permit a convicted felon to possess the type of firearm you reference (and I recommend contacting an attorney to discuss the details of the replica muzzleloader in question first to verify), Oklahoma law does not permit it.
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