‘Second Amendment Preservation Bill’ Passes Wyoming Committee
A bill that would direct Wyoming's Attorney General to sue the federal government over any federal infringements on the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has passed a Wyoming Senate Committee and is now headed to the full Senate.
The bill lists several potential actions that it deems as infringements, including such things as gun registration or confiscation programs, special taxes on firearms and accessories that don't apply to other items, and other actions that would inhibit ''law-abiding citizens'' from possessing firearms.
The vote on House Bill 118 in the Senate Judiciary Committee was 4-1. Lisa Anselmi-Dalton [D-Rock Springs] was the lone vote against the bill.
But Sen. Brian Boner [R-Converse/Patte counties], who voted for the measure in committee, said he was concerned that a series of amendments attached to the measure in committee would weaken the bill by giving the Attorney General too much latitude in deciding whether to take court action against the bill.
Opponents of the bill, including the Wyoming Chapter of ''Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense In America" argued in committee that such bills increase the danger to the public. Some opponents also questioned whether the bill was constitutional. But bill co-sponsor Sen. Lynn Hutchings [R-Cheyenne] argued that under the constitution, governments can only act with the consent of the governed.
Another sponsor, Rep. Tim Salazar [R-Fremont County] ''I often hear people say 'I support the Second Amendment, but..'' He said he seldom hears such comments about the First Amendment or other such amendments."