Today, lawmakers in the Wyoming Senate Judiciary Committee will hear HB 125. The measure is now under consideration in the Senate committee before heading to the full floor vote.
Here’s What to Know About This Dangerous Legislation:
This bill seeks to advance the gun lobby’s dangerous “guns everywhere” agenda by pushing guns into government meeting spaces, schools, universities, and sporting events, while punishing anyone who refuses to allow guns in those places. This would be a dangerous change for Wyoming – current state law prohibits people from carrying guns into specific prohibited locations including schools, jails, courtrooms, government and legislative meetings, athletic events, and establishments licensed to serve alcohol. If passed into law, it would:
- Allow concealed carry permit holders to bring guns into public schools and universities and athletic events taking place on public property.
- Repeal Wyoming’s prohibition on firearms in several sensitive locations that have been specifically allowed by the United States Supreme Court.
- Undermine the democratic processes by allowing guns into state and local government meetings, while restricting the ability of any non-legislative branch of state government to regulate firearms.
- Strip local school district’s authority to set rules around who can carry guns in school grounds and instead would force guns onto K-12 school grounds without any approval process by the local school boards and districts other than optional requirements they can put in place for school employees with guns.
- This measure changes Wyoming law so that anyone, regardless of having a concealed carry permit or not, can bring guns into any government meeting, like legislative sessions and hearings unless the government entity decides not to allow it.
- The proposal punishes anyone who refuses to let someone bring a gun into those locations with up to a year in prison, a fine up to $2,000, or both.
- This legislation would expand the state’s preemption law by declaring that only the state legislature – not any other state agency or entity – can regulate firearms. If passed, the Governor and executive branch appointees would be barred from taking any action to address gun violence.
Wyoming has one of the highest rates of gun deaths and gun suicide in the country, along with some of the weakest gun laws and high household firearm ownership. In an average year, 142 people die by guns in Wyoming. With a rate of 24.0 deaths per 100,000 people, Wyoming has the third highest rate of gun deaths in the US. More information about gun violence in Wyoming is available here.
To speak with a Moms Demand Action volunteer or an Everytown policy expert on HB 125 and other legislative efforts, please reach out to [email protected]
