The number of public areas in Wyoming deemed to be “gun-free zones” could soon be reduced.
The State Building Commission is working to reduce regulations that bar individuals from carrying concealed weapons. The agency is focused on altering the current rules to allow concealed carry at the Wyoming Capitol Complex.
“In Wyoming, we are pro-gun and pro Second Amendment,” said Secretary of State Chuck Gray on April 10 in a statement. “Although it would have been preferable for a more formal motion to have passed, today’s discussion marks a good start for safety and security in the Capitol Complex by beginning the process to reduce the number of soft targets and allow concealed carry in the Capitol. This has been a long time coming.”
“While the Commission’s authority is more limited than the recently vetoed bill that would have repealed gun free zones in Wyoming, I am very excited that the State Building Commission will begin the rulemaking process to allow concealed carry in the Capitol, and look forward to continuing to advance the Second Amendment in our state,” said Gray.
The commission will publish a timeline for the revisal process and opportunities for the public to comment on its website.
“I think it's very important that, while this is a process that we need to engage with and be thorough, that we’re expedient and we get moving on this,” said Gray, per the Casper Star Tribune. “The reality is – these gun free zones turn these areas into soft targets.”
The state’s legislature has also tried to expand concealed carry in recent months.
Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon vetoed House Bill 125 on March 25. The policy would have allowed individuals to carry a concealed weapon in the Capitol, at the University of Wyoming and the Wyoming State Hospital – a psychiatric care facility. The governor said in his veto letter that the bill did not have “sufficient review and debate.”
“This is not a veto of the notion of repealing gun-free zones, it is a request to approach this topic more transparently,” stated Gordon.
“House Bill 125/Enrolled Act No. 49 erodes historic local control norms by giving sole authority to the Legislature to micromanage a constitutionally protected right,” said the governor, per Cowboy State Daily. “Any further clarification of the law, if this bill were enacted, would augment the Legislature’s reach into local firearms regulation.”
According to the United States Concealed Carry Association, more than 18.6 million permits have been issued nationwide.
“That number doesn’t take into account the people who are not required to obtain a permit to carry in the 16 states that have adopted permitless carry, also known as ‘constitutional carry,’” said the UCCA. “This means that 7.3 percent of American adults have a permit to carry. Thirteen states have issued permits to more than 10 percent of the adult population, and four states have each issued more than one million permits.”
