Wyoming Firearms Protection Act Advances in State Senate

HB104, the Wyoming Firearms Protection Act cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday and will now move to the full Senate for debate and vote.

The measure passed the House 46-13 recently. The bill passed by the House also included criminal penalties for federal agents who violate the proposed state law. The Senate Judiciary Committee struck those provisions to gain concurrence and move the bill forward. The amendment does call on the state Attorney General to defend a person’s right to keep and bear arms, and the Senate version of the bill would prohibit the state or any of its agencies from complying with federal acts that violate the Firearms Protection Act.

House sponsor Rep. Kendell Kroeker expressed some disappointment with the Senate committee action, but remained positive. He said that there are still opportunities to get the full, original version of his bill passed into law.

“Please e-mail the Senate and ask them to give the bill time to be heard on the floor and to remove the committee amendment and restore the bill to its original purpose,” he said. “If it passes the Senate in its amended form, the House will have to vote to accept the changes. If we do not accept the changes, it will go to a conference committee. So there is still the possibility it can be fixed, but it would be best to get it fixed before it comes out of the Senate.”

Tenth Amendment Center communications director Mike Maharrey said he’d like to see the criminal penalties reinstated, but even the amended version of the bill would have some serious impact.

“The feds depend on state cooperation to do most of the things they do. So, simply refusing to comply can throw a huge monkey wrench in their plans. Northern non-compliance with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 pretty much shut down federal slave catching. So, we know it can be effective,” he said. “That said, we’d like to see the penalties back in the bill. If the feds try to ban certain weapons, they’re the ones violating the Constitution. They’re breaking the law – the highest law in the land. Don’t we charge lawbreakers with a crime? I don’t see the problem here.”

ACTION ITEMS

If you live in Wyoming, contact your Senator and urge him/her to support HB104 with penalties included. Also contact Senate President Tony Ross and urge him to give time and consideration to remove the amendment.  You can find Senate contact information HERE.

LEGISLATION and TRACKING

If you would like to see model legislation to introduce in your state or local community to nullify federal firearm laws, please see The Tenth Amendment Center’s Model Legislation: The 2nd Amendment Preservation Act.

Track the status of 2nd Amendment preservation legislation in states around the country HERE.