Gun Rights Bill Legislator Says Could Prevent ‘Dystopian Future’ Passes Senate

The bill named the "Second Amendment Protection Act" could be Wyoming’s “insurance policy” against a hypothetical dark future where masked federal agents trample residents' rights, a legislator said Thursday, prior to the bill passing the Senate.

Senate File 101 aims to bar Wyoming law enforcement agencies from enforcing any federal gun regulations that violate residents’ Second Amendment rights.

It passed its third and final reading before the Senate on Thursday by a 26-to-5 vote. It now moves to the House.

Echoes Of Minneapolis

Speaking in favor of SF 101 prior to the vote, Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, seemed to make references to recent events in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Tensions boiled between some residents there and federal immigration and border patrol agents, and there have been two fatal agent-involved shootings.

Addressing his remarks to Senate President Sen. Bo Biteman, R-Ranchester, Case said the bill could serve as a bulwark against a seemingly similar “hypothetical situation.”

“Perhaps federal agents arrive in our cities and seek to harm our Constitutional rights. I mean I could sit here and imagine a dystopian future, Mr. President (Biteman), where there might be federal police on these streets, maybe wearing masks. Maybe looking to harm peaceful protesters. Maybe even to harm people who are legally carrying firearms,” Case said.

In his remarks opposing the bill, Sen. John Kolb, R-Rock Springs apparently stated that he took offense at what Case was implying.

Kolb said he took offense at “criticism of federal officials, because they are doing a certain thing in a certain part of the United States of America. Basically, upholding a law they swore an oath to.”

Law Enforcement Misgivings

Kolb noted that the sheriff in his county and other law enforcement officers in Wyoming have expressed misgivings about the Second Amendment Protection Act.

Law enforcement officers testified against a mirror bill House Bill 130 during a House committee hearing. HB130 still sits before the House.

Sen. Larry Hicks, R-Baggs, also spoke against SF 101 prior to the vote in the Senate.

He said it could leave Wyoming law enforcement agencies wide open to lawsuits any time officers had to confiscate a firearm in the line of duty. Say, for example, if a sheriff’s deputy took a person’s gun while trying to de-escalate a tense domestic disturbance.

As the bill is written, lawsuits could be filed by “anybody — any entity, anybody outside the state of Wyoming,” he said.

Speaking in favor of the bill, Biteman said such concerns are unfounded.

SF101 doesn’t stop officers in Wyoming from confiscating firearms in accordance with state laws, such as temporarily seizing a gun at the site of a domestic disturbance call, he said.  

Let’s Do It For All Rights

Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, also spoke in favor of the bill. He said it would ensure that Wyoming law enforcement would protect residents’ Second Amendment rights against federal overreach.

Other rights should be similarly protected, he said.

“That’s the objective of this (bill) on the Second Amendment. I’d love to see similar legislation on the First Amendment, the Fifth Amendment, the 10^th Amendment and other amendments as well,” he said.

Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.