Update: The Wyoming Senate has voted to go along with changes made to the Second Amendment Protection Act in the Wyoming House of Representatives. That vote clears the way for the bill to be sent to Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon who can sign the bill, veto it, or allow to become law without his signature. If the governor chooses to veto the measure, it would take a 2/3 majority vote of both houses of the legislature to override the veto.

Here is how the Senate voted on Thursday morning's concurrrence vote:

Ayes: ANDERSON, BALDWIN, BONER, CASE, COOPER, DOCKSTADER, DRISKILL, ELLIS, FURPHY, GIERAU, HICKS, HUTCHINGS, KINSKEY, KOLB, KOST, LANDEN, NETHERCOTT, PERKINS, SCHULER, SCOTT, STEINMETZ, WASSERBURGER
Nays: BITEMAN, BOUCHARD, FRENCH, JAMES, MCKEOWN, ROTHFUSS, SALAZAR
Excused: PAPPAS

 

Original Post: A bill that supporters say would protect the Second Amendment rights of Wyoming residents, but that some critics call weak and meaningless, passed the Wyoming House of Representatives by a wide margin on Wednesday.

While Senate File 102 has already been approved by the Wyoming Senate, the two houses of the legislature approved somewhat different versions of the bill. That means they have to agree on a final version before the bill can be sent to Governor Mark Gordon.

The bill reads in part:

''a)  This state and all political subdivisions of this state are prohibited from using any personnel or funds appropriated by the legislature of the state of Wyoming or any other source of funds that originated within the state of Wyoming to enforce, administer or cooperate with any act, law, treaty, judicial or executive order, rule or regulation of the United States government that infringes on or impedes the free exercise of individual rights guaranteed under the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.''

Supporters say that will prevent local law enforcement agencies, for exmaple, from enforcing federal executive orders implementing gun control measures.

But some critics of the legislation are unhappy that it would be up to local prosecuting attorneys to enforce the bill in court. Supporters of the Second Amendment Preservation Act--Senate File 87-- want private citizens to be able to take legal action against local or state agencies who violate the Second Amendment. They say they have little confidence in one governmental office reigning in another local or state agency, especially at the local level where the two agencies may have an ongoing working relationship.

Senate File 87 failed an introductory vote in the Senate by a 20-9 margin, with one absent. A House version of the same bill got a majority vote for introduction in that body, with 37 lawmakers votign in favor. But that was just short of the 2/3 majority--40 votes--needed for introduction of a non-budget bill in a budget session.

Senate File 102 on the other hand, sailed through both houses of the legislature with big majorities voting in favor. Besides the final House vote of 43-15 yesterday, the Senate earlier approved the bill obn a 22-8 vote.

Senate File 102 is sponsored by Sen. Larry Hicks [R-Albany, Carbon and Sweetwater Counties]. It's co-sponsored by Sens. Cooper, Dockstader, Driskill, Kinskey, Kolb, Kost, Nethercott and, Steinmetz and Representative(s) Burkhart, Greear, Haroldson, Jennings, Olsen, and Styvar.

The Senate is slated to vote on whether to concur with the latest version of the bill later today [March 10].

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