WY:Three Republican Senators Kill Gun Free Zone Reform

Wyoming seemed posed to repeal many of the gun free zones that have accumulated in the state over years of special pleadings, especially by the powerful eduction lobby.  HB0114 passed the house with an overwhelming 42 to 17 vote.  With a lopsided 26 Republicans to 4 Democrats in the Senate, the bill seemed assured of quick passage.  John Lott gave testimony in the Senate; his testimony was considered to be extremely effective.

However, the Machiavellian politics of legislatures quickly became apparent.  Instead of the bill being assigned to the Judiciary committee, as was done in the House, it was assigned to the education committee, where the strongest lobbyists against the bill had the most power.  In that committee, the bill was gutted, turned from a 3 page bill that repealed restrictive laws into a 14 page bill that added many more restrictions than existed before.  To add insult to the original sponsors, the committee kept the original sponsors of the bill on the new version and added their own names as well.  From Wyoming Gun Owners at ammoland.com:

Also Note: The Senate underhandedly included the House sponsors names listed on the substitute bill — a bill that in NO way resembles the original bill.

The truth: The Senate version SHOULD have only three Senators names attached to it as sponsors…
Sen(s) Hank Coe (Republican), Jim Anderson SD2 (Republican), Stephan Pappas (Republican) – they are the real bill sponsors of the substitute-counterfeit HB-114 renamed ‘Gun Free Zones Modifications.’

The bill was presented to the Senate, passed the committee of the whole, and then sent back to the House, where the Education Committee substitute was killed.  The Education Committee version was then killed in the Senate as well.
From jhnewsandguide.com:

House Bill 114 drew harsh fire in both chambers of the Legislature, first because it would have repealed historic gun-free zones and also for limiting the rights of gun owners.

Twenty-five of 28 senators in Wednesday’s session voted against the bill.

(snip)

Rep. Marti Halverson, R-Etna, was part of the Judiciary Committee that sent the original bill to the House floor, but she felt the substitute bill turned the law into gun control instead of gun freedom.

The responsibility for gutting HB0114 will have to be determined by the voters of Wyoming, but it appears to lie in three places.  First, the powerful education lobby.  Second whoever made the decision to give the bill to the Education Committee in the Senate, instead of the Judiciary Committee, as was done in the House.  Presumably, this was done in the Republican leadership.  As a long term leader in the party, and former President of the Senate, Senator Coe may simply have asked that the bill be referred to his committee, as a favor.  Third, the three members of the Education committee who gutted the bill.  They are, as listed above, Senators Hank Coe SD18 (R), Jim Anderson SD2 (R), Stephan Pappas SD7 (R).

It appears to be too late to reintroduce the bill this year.  With the strong support shown for the measure, it will almost certainly be reintroduced next year.  Most Republicans see it as a safety measure.   From reuters.com:

Backers of the Wyoming bill argued it would increase the safety of children enrolled in Wyoming’s 48 school districts by allowing school employees, from teachers to janitors, to be armed in class and on campus grounds.

Supporters pointed to the 2012 massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, where a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School, as a shooting in which lives might have been saved if school staff members had been armed.

Opponents of the bill were able to use legislative procedures to kill the bill.  I have seen it happen often.  The pressures that pushed this bill toward passage have not gone away.  It is unlikely that proponents of gun free zones will prevail forever.  

 ©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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