Wyoming Legislative Session 2024 – Your Rights on the Line!
The 2024 Wyoming Legislative Session begins on February 12, 2024 with huge implications for Second Amendment Rights in the Cowboy state!
FIRST SOME BAD NEWS HISTORY!
In the 2023 Session, GOA was hopeful we could pass legislation to repeal most of Wyoming’s remaining gun-free zones (HB0105 sponsored by Representative Haroldson [R] from Wheatland) and stop Biden’s Red Flag money from being accepted in Wyoming (HB0250 sponsored by Representative Jennings [R] from Sheridan).
HB0250 would have complimented and enhanced the GOA-backed Second Amendment Protection Act (SAPA) which passed into statute in 2022.
This law already prohibits state and local participation in unconstitutional federal gun control and carries a one-year jail penalty for state and local officials who violate the law. This is the Nation’s strongest criminal penalty found in any SAPA.
In keeping with our promise in 2022, GOA has always sought to improve and enhance a law regarded around the Country as one of the Nation’s best because no law is perfect, and we can never stop trying to improve and enhance protections for our Second Amendment Rights.
Sadly, in early February of 2023, Wyoming House Speaker Albert Sommers [R] from Pinedale sent HB0105 and HB0250 to the anti-gun House Appropriations Committee Chaired by Bob Nicholas [R] from Laramie County.
Effectively, using a variety of hard-to-track processes, Speaker Sommers and the Appropriations Committee kept both the Repeal Gun-free Zones and Stop Red Flags Act bills from getting a debate and a vote from your elected Representatives on the full House Floor.
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.
HB0250 would have specifically stopped Biden’s Red Flag money from coming to the Cowboy State
Please 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. The Cowboy State, under the leadership of the current House Speaker and his Committees, is lagging behind other states in standing up for our God-given Right to Keep and Bear Arms!
NOW SOME GOOD NEWS FOR 2024!
Representatives Haroldson and Jennings are coming back with GOA-backed bills that will repeal most of Wyoming’s remaining gun-free zones and specifically stop Biden’s Red Flag money from coming into the state.
Additionally, Representative John Bear [R] from Gillette and Senator John Kolb [R] from Rock Springs are bringing forward bills to enhance school safety in Wyoming. Current Wyoming law already allows School Districts to train and arm teachers and staff to protect students. Bills by Bear and Kolb will fund training and launch an awareness campaign to inform parents about these programs
It is important to remember that 16 states have programs that allow School Districts to arm teachers and staff, and there has yet to be a fatal shooting in a school protected in this manner! Nothing is perfect or foolproof, but don’t we owe it to our children to grant them every protection possible?
Additional pro-Second Amendment bills will include a bill from Representative Bill Allemand [R] from Midwest that would stop the tracking of firearms purchases made with a credit card. As many of you know, big banks and the federal government have, to varying degrees, attempted to track these purchases or have actually done it for the last several years.
Plus, Representative Jeremy Haroldson plans to fix many of the serious problems in the Wyoming statutes pertaining to the restoration of rights of non-violent felons. We will send more information about this complex issue in a future e-mail.
Constitutional Champions like the Legislators mentioned in this alert will attempt to bring all of these bills to the House and Senate Floors for debate, but we have a lot of work to do before passing any meaningful legislation during the 2024 Session.
It is important for you to click on one of the take action buttons and demand House and Senate Leadership give these bills a chance to be introduced and debated on the Floor of “The Peoples’ House and Senate Chambers.”
Please support stalwart Second Amendment Champions like the bill sponsors mentioned above, and please support their co-sponsors. We need to demand more of Legislative Leadership and Committees that stonewalled pro-Second Amendment bills in the 2023 session.
GOA will keep you informed and help lead the way on that mission!
Be sure to keep in mind that 2024 is also an election year in Wyoming. GOA will work hard to advance pro-Second Amendment Legislation during the 2024 Legislative Session, and we will begin laying the groundwork for holding officials accountable during the 2024 election process.
Be on the lookout for more from GOA in the coming days and weeks as we monitor the 2024 Wyoming Legislative Session and continue to fight to protect the Second Amendment!
