Photo by Pascal Bernardon on Unsplash
Have even our neighbors to the North found some sort of limit to their Gun Lobby kowtowing? Wyoming lawmakers failed to override Gov. Mark Gordon’s veto of controversial changes to a Wyoming gun law that restricts the enforcement of federal gun orders.
Gordon vetoed amendments to Wyoming’s Second Amendment Protection Act that would have added a possible $50,000 penalty and a civil option for challenging alleged violations of the law. In his veto letter, Gordon said the “litany of troubling language, problematic consequences, and irreconcilable issues” that he had pointed to in similar legislation he vetoed last year “were completely ignored by the legislators advancing this newest iteration and still stand today.”
Wyoming’s SAPA became law in 2022, and bars the use of state money or personnel to enforce any “unconstitutional” federal government directive that “infringes on people’s right to bear arms.” Public officers who violate the law would face a misdemeanor.
The law has never been used, law enforcement officials told lawmakers, as they testified in opposition to the proposed changes. All 23 Wyoming sheriffs signed a letter to lawmakers cautioning that the measure would create legal ambiguity that could expose officers and agencies to litigation, threaten federal partnerships, and ultimately hamper efforts to address crime.