The 2023 Wyoming Legislative Session came to an end on Friday, March 3, after a rocky ride for our Second Amendment Rights!<\/p>\n
SF0120 Contained Hidden Gun Control<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
When it comes to gun issues, the 2023 Session contained some bad news and some good news.<\/p>\n
FIRST THE BAD NEWS!<\/u><\/strong><\/i><\/p>\n In the final week of the Session, GOA warned our members and supporters that the Wyoming Legislature was poised to pass\u00a0hidden gun control<\/strong>\u00a0in a bill labeled “Restoration of Civil Rights!”<\/p>\n Despite a strong GOA-backed effort to amend this bill by pro-gun Representatives in the House,\u00a0SF0120<\/a>\u00a0passed without critical amendments just before the Legislature adjourned on March 3.<\/p>\n As passed, SF0120 restores the right to bear arms to one-time non-violent felons in Wyoming, which is a concept GOA supports.\u00a0However,\u00a0<\/strong>SF0120 contains gun control provisions not necessary for restoring rights, and it actually revokes rights not previously revoked under Wyoming statutes.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Essentially, the Wyoming Legislature revoked the firearms rights of\u00a0non-violent<\/u>\u00a0felons under Wyoming law in order to restore them under Federal Law when there were other legal paths for restoring the rights of non-violent felons.\u00a0With two simple amendments, SF0120 could have been a true “Restoration of Civil Rights” bill, contained no gun control, and accomplished the same end result!<\/strong><\/p>\n HB0105 would have put our laws more in line with states like Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, and Utah<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n While we are talking about bad news, early in the session, we were hopeful we could pass legislation to\u00a0repeal most of Wyoming’s remaining gun-free zones<\/strong>\u00a0(HB0105<\/a>\u00a0sponsored by Representative Haroldson [R] from Wheatland) and\u00a0stop Biden’s Red Flag money<\/strong>\u00a0(HB0250<\/a>\u00a0sponsored by Representative Jennings [R] from Sheridan). HB0205 would have complimented and enhanced the\u00a0GOA-backed Second Amendment Protection Act<\/strong>\u00a0which passed in 2022 — a law that already prohibits state and local participation in unconstitutional federal gun control.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n However, in early February, Wyoming House Speaker Albert Sommers [R] from Pinedale sent HB0105 and HB0250 to the anti-gun House Appropriations Committee.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>The Appropriations Committee first gutted both pieces of legislation by trying to pass “Substitute Bills” containing terrible language. Ultimately, both bills were stonewalled.<\/p>\n Effectively, using a variety of hard-to-track processes,\u00a0Speaker Sommers and the Appropriations Committee kept both the Stop Red Flags Act and Repeal Gun-free Zones bills from getting a vote from your elected Representatives on the full House Floor.<\/strong><\/p>\n HB0250 would have specifically stopped Biden’s Red Flag money from coming to the Cowboy State<\/p>\n<\/div>\n This experience has taught us that we face serious challenges with House Leadership and at least one anti-gun Committee when it comes to passing important legislation to advance our Second Amendment Rights in Wyoming.<\/p>\n Keep in mind that both the Repeal Gun-free Zones Bill and the Stop Red Flags Bill are in line with legislation already passed in other states.\u00a0The “Cowboy State,” under the leadership of the current Speaker and his Committees, is lagging behind other states in terms of standing up for our God-given Right to Keep and Bear Arms!<\/strong><\/p>\n NOW FOR SOME GOOD NEWS!<\/u><\/strong><\/i><\/p>\n GOA-Backed\u00a0SF0148<\/a>\u00a0passed both the Wyoming Senate and House and was signed into law by Governor Gordon on Monday, February 27! This bill fixes an error in Wyoming’s Statutes by restoring the intent of Wyoming’s Preemption law and stopping localities from passing more restrictive gun control than allowed by the state legislature.<\/p>\n This new law means a local Wyoming authority CANNOT pass restrictions on concealed carry, magazine size, or other legal firearms or firearms-related activities allowed under Wyoming law.\u00a0<\/strong>All authority to regulate firearms rests with the State Legislature.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gunowners.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Repeal-Gun-Free-Zones.png\")
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