Critics warn gun rights bill poised to become law could block life saving regulations

JACKSON — As the Wyoming Legislature moves ahead with new gun rights legislation, critics say the bill isn’t needed and could make it harder to prevent suicide and protect victims of domestic abuse.
Dubbed the “Second Amendment Protection Act,” the bill is in its final reading in the Wyoming House of Representatives. Senate File 102 aims to prevent Wyoming officials from enforcing federal mandates that infringe on Second Amendment rights.
But Rep. Mike Yin, a Jackson Democrat who voted against the bill, said SF 102 is “a lot of showmanship” that’s solving a problem that doesn’t exist.
“Gun rights are not under attack in Wyoming,” Yin said. “There was a different amendment that did not get moving that hamstrung law enforcement. This bill was brought as an alternative so the Senate majority party could say they are supportive. The bill is not necessary.”
But the bill’s sponsors say the legislation preserves the U.S. Constitution, upholds the Second Amendment and protects Wyoming citizens from potential federal overstepping. The measure was written in collaboration with Wyoming law enforcement and Gun Owners of America, a pro-gun organization.
“We all know that Wyoming is one of the most pro-Second Amendment states,” said Sen. Larry Hicks, one of the bill’s sponsors, while introducing it in the Senate. “We also have the highest percentage of gun ownership in the United States. It is inherently important for us to protect our citizens and their Second Amendment rights.”
Wyoming has the second-highest household firearm ownership nationwide, according to the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety. In Wyoming an estimated 66.2% of adults live in homes with guns, just behind Montana.
Byron Oedekoven, the former Campbell County sheriff who is now a lobbyist for the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police, spoke in favor of the bill. He said the legislation “looks to prohibit law enforcement, or anyone else for that matter, from taking any action on any unconstitutional attempts to infringe on the Second Amendment. So it likewise leaves in place the federal legislation that is constitutional.’’
Feared federal attempts to regulate firearms include the additional serialization of different parts of a firearm and potential provisions that would require citizens to reserialize their firearms, according to Nefi Cole, director of government and state affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
But Tara Muir, public policy director of the Wyoming Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, worries about protecting victims of domestic assault from gun violence.
“Wyoming doesn’t have a state law requiring guns to be removed from the possession of proven violent abusers,” Muir said. “SF 102 could prevent our police from enforcing federal laws that do. The bill’s sponsors say they’d make an exception for this case, but until they actually pass a state law that provides those protections specifically, there’s no way Wyoming citizens can be sure that such protections will ever be guaranteed.”
According to Muir, 70% of female intimate partner homicide victims were killed with a gun in Wyoming, compared to 67% nationwide.
Hicks responded to Muir by amending the bill to allow law enforcement to follow federal regulations to protect domestic violence victims.
“I’m not actively opposed to [the bill] right now,” Muir said. “I appreciate that Hicks and the police chiefs have said they’re still going to do their jobs.”
Teton County cops don’t confiscate guns from a citizen, regardless of their criminal history, with one exception.
“If a gun is involved in a crime, then we confiscate it as evidence,” Sheriff Matt Carr said. “Otherwise we don’t confiscate people’s guns.”
Carr endorsed the bill, along with the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police.
“The bill was a compromise, the other bills that were out there were flat out scary,” he said. “I endorsed the bill, but I think the Second Amendment does everything we need it to.”
The bill has one more reading in the House. If passed it will return to the Senate for approval before going to the governor’s desk.
Wyoming is not alone in resisting federal attempts to regulate firearms. The attorneys general of 20 states are fighting an “unconstitutional” Biden administration proposal to regulate gun parts. 
Laws that discourage or prohibit state and local law officers from enforcing federal gun control statutes that violate the Second Amendment have been passed by Republican legislatures in some states, including Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia.
According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, there are nearly 59,000 licensed gun dealers across the country. That’s four times the number of McDonald’s and nearly twice the number of post offices. The demand for ammunition has also risen nationally.
“Over the last two years we’ve sold at least 14 million firearms to first-time gun buyers,” said Cole, of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
Closely following the legislation are Teton County gun owners concerned about the state’s gun violence rate. 
Wyoming has the sixth-highest per-capita rate of gun deaths in the U.S., according to research by Everytown for Gun Safety, started by former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
Liz Prax, a Jackson resident and gun owner, testified against the bill, citing that in other countries, such as Canada, stricter gun laws have led to lower gun violence. Her husband is a long-range precision competitor.
“We have a wide variety of very powerful weapons,” Prax said. “So I feel like I understand both sides of the issue. With the gun violence epidemic in our country, we need to be doing much more to protect innocent lives. But at the same time, people like us know how to use guns responsibly, both for hunting and for sport. I believe we could find a happy middle ground if people weren’t digging in their heels on either side.”
According to Everytown, from 2010 to 2019 gun deaths in the state increased by more than 2 1/2 times the national average and gun suicide increased by nearly three times the national average. The rate of gun deaths has increased 54% from 2011 to 2020 in Wyoming, compared to a 33% increase nationwide.
According to the Wyoming Department of Health, suicide rates in Wyoming are consistently higher than U.S. rates. In Wyoming, the rate of suicide by gun increased 43% from 2011 to 2020, compared to a 12% increase nationwide.
Stephen Lottridge is a Jackson resident, hunter and retired psychologist who wrote a letter to Sen. Tara Nethercott, a bill sponsor, to oppose SF 102.
“I do not know if it is even legal or not for the Wyoming Legislature to pass a bill requiring citizens to disobey a federal law or regulation,” Lottridge wrote. “I doubt that it is.”
Lottridge also pointed to the rise in gun-related suicide in Wyoming, an issue he’s familiar with from his years spent driving around the state serving its mental health programs.
“People often get depressed,” Lottridge said. “I worked with many people who’ve had suicidal ideation, and if there is a gun handy they’re much more likely on impulse to decide to kill themselves. We’re seeing more and more of it amongst our younger population.”
The bill is being heard in the House today for its final reading before returning to the Senate for final approval.
 
This story was published on March 9, 2022.