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August 13, 2008

Kern: 'I was not arrested'

By M. Scott Carter

OKLAHOMA CITY --?While she acknowledges it was the second time she attempted to bring a gun into the state Capitol building, state Rep. Sally Kern said Wednesday she was not arrested for the incident.

Responding to state Rep. Bill Nations' speech at last week's Tyner Cornbread and Beans luncheon, Kern, an Oklahoma City Republican, told The Transcript, "I was not arrested."

"Yes, I forgot to take my gun out as I entered the building," she said. "But I notified the security personnel just as they said my name. I remembered at the same time, that I had not taken my gun out of my purse."

Kern said she asked the officers manning the security post if she could take the gun back to her car and she was told "yes."

"It was not done on purpose," she said. "And the trooper sitting there didn't even move."

Kern confirmed the incident marks the second time she's brought a gun to the Capitol.

"The only reason anyone knows about it (the first time) is because I self-reported it," she said. "My gun was in my purse and I had clothes over my purse, the clothes began to fall, and a trooper reached to help me. I realized then my gun was in my purse. When I got to my office I contacted security and let them know it was purely an accident."

Kern said she isn't the only state representative who has forgotten and taken a gun into the building.

"I'm not the only one, there are others, but I'm not saying who," she said.

M. Scott Carter 366-3545 scarter@normantranscript.com

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