More Oklahoma teens are getting access to guns — and are using them in crimes. What can be done?

The sound of gunshots cut across the warm August air. Football players, coaches, referees and fans scrambled for cover. Some dove to the grass. Outside the Choctaw High School football stadium, a 16-year-old boy lay dying. Several others were injured. A 15-year-old boy would later be charged as an adult, accused of murder.

Just weeks later, more gunshots. This time it was at the Oklahoma State Fair. One person was left wounded and in critical condition, and a 17-year-old accused in the shooting.

The high-profile shootings this summer come amid a startling increase in gun charges involving teenagers.

Through Sept. 25 in Oklahoma County, the district attorney’s office filed 203 firearms-related charges against minors. With three months left before the end of the year, that number is well ahead of the 200 similar charges filed in all of 2022, according to data the DA's office released to The Oklahoman.

The data show more than 25% of the charges filed against minors this year in Oklahoma County have been firearms-related.

In 2019, just 10% of the charges brought against minors were related to firearms.

More teens in Oklahoma are getting guns through car burglaries, police say

Law enforcement officials are cautious about saying whether the increase in charges reflect a rise in teen violence or stepped-up enforcement. However, they say the issue of kids and guns has become more noticeable recently.

"Over the last three or four years, we've seen an increase in contacts with youths with and without weapons," Oklahoma County sheriff's office spokesman Aaron Brilbeck told The Oklahoman.

When it comes to firearms charges and minors, law enforcement officials say it is difficult parse how many are standalone charges and how many are part of an encounter, such as a traffic stop or drug investigation, in which a weapon was later found.

However, according to the Oklahoma City Police Department, there has been a clear increase in one method by which teens are obtaining guns.

More: A 14-year-old jumped in to help shooting victim at the Oklahoma State Fair

"The way they are getting their hands on guns is through car burglaries," department spokesman Dillon Quirk said.

Others say it is simply too easy to obtain a gun in a state that has repeatedly loosened restrictions on access to firearms.

During a 15-month span after enactment of the state's "permitless carry" law in 2019, the average number of gun deaths per month increased nearly 20% compared to the number 10 years before the law went into effect.

Whether the law directly contributed to a rise in gun violence is difficult to determine. But as Oklahoma lawmakers have increased access to firearms over the past decade, firearm-caused suicides, accidents and homicides in the state have increased.

“Oklahoma needs to reckon with the gun culture we have created over the last decade by our lawmakers passing the wish list of the gun lobby, and it’s going to take time to undo,” said Beth Furnish, a volunteer with the gun control advocacy group Moms Demand Action.

Across the US, more children and teens are being killed by gunfire

Across the nation, the number of children and teens killed by gunfire in the United States increased 50% between 2019 and 2021, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of mortality statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The gun death rate among children and teens saw a 46% increase, according to Pew.

Pew reported that homicide accounted for 60% of gun deaths among children and teens in 2021, followed by suicide at 32% and accidents at 5%.

In 2022, guns were the leading cause of death for children and teens for the fifth straight year, according to a review of provisional CDC data analyzed by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions.

The rate of gun deaths in the group fell slightly, by 3%, from 2021, with a total of 4,590 deaths last year. Researchers said 2022's gun death rate for children and teens was the second-highest rate in 25 years, behind 2021. Both gun homicides and suicides were a part of increase, according to the researchers.

Sociologists are asking questions about the cause of the alarming rate of teen gun violence in America, with some pointing to the COVID-19 pandemic as one possibility.

'What place is sacred anymore?' Shooting at Choctaw football game part of larger trend

“In the school setting, there tended to be a more drastic disruption of their routines with a lot of students not even coming back for a long time to an in-person setting,” said Christopher Hill, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Oklahoma. “Those kinds of social changes interrupt practical routines and schedules, but I think they also have the tendency to make people question what are the rules, and the legitimacy of the rules these days.”

Hill, whose research areas include criminology, criminal justice and juvenile justice., said sociologists have grappled over the concept of normlessness, which sometimes follows great societal upheaval, and whether such shifts lead to an increase in deviancy.

Hill said some people will find healthy ways to adjust to change, while others might “resort to criminal behavior.” He said it was "at least reasonable to consider“ whether the increase of gun violence among teens was one fallout from the disorder of the pandemic.

Hill cautioned that there is much speculation about the issue and that more research needs to be done to see if there are correlations.

As for the local data on gun arrests among minors, Hill said one path of research could be to examine the increase in arrests against the backdrop of the marijuana black market in Oklahoma, which has expanded since voters approved the legalization of medical marijuana in 2019.

He pointed to the rise in gun violence among teens in the late 1980s and into the 1990s, when much of the bloodshed occurred in areas overrun by the crack cocaine trade and other illegal drug markets.

“Maybe selling marijuana is a form of income for teens in some areas of the state, and those illegal transactions carry that risk of tension and fear, and potential violence,” he said. “I think it’s an interesting research topic, but in my mind it’s still more of a question.”

Recent shootings in Oklahoma illustrate problem, reignite gun control debate

High-profile crime cases involving minors and guns in Oklahoma have rekindled the gun control debate in the state.

On July 17, Tarrah Woods, 38, agreed to plea guilty in federal court to two counts of making a false statement during the acquisition of a firearm.

Authorities said she bought two semiautomatic pistols for juvenile males with whom she had inappropriate sexual relations. One weapon, fully loaded and outfitted with a laser, was found stashed in a boy’s backpack, authorities said.

On Aug. 25,  Cordea Carter, 16, was shot to death at a Choctaw High School football game.

Prosecutors charged Dayvion Hamilton, 15, with first-degree murder.

On Sept. 24, one person was injured at the Oklahoma State Fair when shots were fired during an argument between two groups.

More: How many firearms do Oklahomans buy? How our state stacks up

Oklahoma City police arrested a 17-year-old boy in the case. His name has not been released.

The state fair shooting became local fodder for the gun control debate.

Oklahoma state Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland, called for Oklahomans to be allowed to carry guns for self-protection into the fair, which draws 1 million people annually.

Roland said in a statement the shooting "underscored the need for law-abiding citizens to be able to exercise their Second Amendment rights at the State Fair. The whole incident illustrates that, under the liberal gun control mindset, lawless criminals will continue to carry weapons and prove a threat while law-abiding Americans are prohibited from utilizing their God-given right to protect themselves and their families."

Fair officials said weapons are not allowed, and signs saying so are posted for the public.

“We have been reviewing video since the incident and we are confident he didn’t come through one of our metal detectors,” Scott Munz, a spokesman for the fair, said in an email to The Oklahoman. “We are reviewing the footage of the perimeter and have not been able to find where he gained access to the property. It is too early to talk about what we will be doing for security next year.”

Last weekend at the Tulsa State Fair, where firearms also are prohibited, three loaded handguns were confiscated from juveniles, the Tulsa County sheriff’s office told local reporters.

Authorities warned the public about bringing a firearm into the fair.

"Leave it at home,” Capt. Mike Moore, of the sheriff’s office, said. “Don't leave it in your car because unfortunately, we have car break-ins here."

'People who have been elected into power need to do something about it'

Continued gun violence among teens in Oklahoma and elsewhere should spur lawmakers to pass tougher gun laws, Vanessa Hall-Harper, the Tulsa chapter president of the National African-American Gun Association, told The Oklahoman.

“Oklahoma’s gun culture is no different than Michigan, Kansas or other places,” Hall-Harper said. “We let things go on and on and on and we become desensitized to it. People who have been elected to power need to do something about it. They are failing the citizens of this country.”

Hall-Harper, who serves District 1 for the Tulsa City Council, agrees with many gun control advocates who want the federal government to impose universal background checks and longer waiting periods to buy a gun. He said the government also should raise the minimum age to purchase a gun to 21 and close loopholes in the purchasing process.

“As a gun enthusiast and owner, I love my guns, too,” she said. “But I still believe in common sense gun regulations.”

More: Oklahoma County grand juries are rare. New DA now wants one available to review police shootings

At least one gun rights advocate suggested tougher gun laws, and no gun zones, such as at the fair, open the door to bad actors.

“If we get rid of these no gun zones, you will see the crime go down because law-abiding citizens can defend themselves,” said Don Spencer, president of the Oklahoma 2nd Amendment Association.

Spencer said tougher gun laws make no difference to criminals because they steal weapons or obtain them on the street. Kids are not buying guns from the local weapons store, he said.

“Background checks don’t mean much to gang members who get them from cartels or anywhere else,” Spencer said. “They’ll  actually steal them from someone they know or buy them from people who bought them illegally. Most background checks don’t make a difference except it hinders law-abiding citizens.”

Still, those like Furnish, with Moms Demand Action, say America should not resign itself to teen gun violence.

Tougher laws combined with weapons education and programs for youths can help reverse the trend, she said.

Furnish pointed to past efforts to curb teen drinking, and driving under the influence. Tougher laws and punishments, along with education, were accepted by Americans, she said.

“We are not helpless to address gun violence,” Furnish said. “We didn't as a society say ‘wow, you can’t keep kids from drinking.’ There were multiple approaches we took.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: More Oklahoma teens are using guns in crimes. What can be done?