Move FM Global News

CHEYENNE, Wyoming: A bill that would have allowed people to carry concealed guns in public schools and government meetings was vetoed by Wyoming Republican Governor Mark Gordon on March 22.

Gordon said in his veto letter that the bill could exceed the separation of powers provision in the state constitution since the Legislature could only implement any policy, further regulation, or clarification of the law.

Under the bill, each state facility, including the University of Wyoming, the Wyoming State Hospital, and the Wyoming Boys’ School, would have been required to seek legislative approval to restrict firearms carrying.

Gordon wrote that the bill “erodes historic local control norms by giving sole authority to the Legislature to micromanage a constitutionally protected right. Any further clarification of the law, if this bill were enacted, would augment the Legislature’s reach into local firearms regulation.”

Concealed firearms would have been allowed in public schools and at the University of Wyoming and community colleges in areas not serving alcohol with a permit, as well as without a permit in public meetings, including those of the state’s Legislature.

Continuing to not allow guns in schools and meetings infringes on their Second Amendment rights, the bill’s supporters said.

Since the state began allowing it in 2017, some Wyoming districts have allowed school officials to carry guns in schools.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, other states that allow permit holders to carry concealed guns in schools are Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Utah.

In one of the gun-friendliest states in the U.S., the bill passed Wyoming’s Senate 22-8 after supporters dismissed fears about allowing guns where they are currently banned.