State lawmakers pressure Wyoming senators to vote against gun legislation

Twenty members of the Legislature published a letter Monday opposing any form of gun control. A second written by the House Freedom Caucus also rejected attempts by Congress to implement new gun restrictions.

“Under NO circumstances should you allow any bill to advance that contains ANY form of gun control or firearms confiscation of ANY KIND, no matter how small or “indirect” it may seem,” the letter from 20 lawmakers says.

The federal bill is being developed following a series of mass shootings, including one that claimed the lives of 19 children in Uvalde, Texas. So far, only a legislative framework is available, which 10 Republican senators have agreed to. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said he would be willing to vote for the bill if it ends up matching the framework that now exists.

Wyoming Senators Cynthia Lummis and John Barrasso said they will not take a position on the impending arms deal before the full text is available, which is expected in the next week or so.

Meanwhile, many state legislators are already urging them not to support the bill.

A letter from Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Burns, and Representative Robert Wharff, R-Evanston, was signed by 13 representatives and seven senators.

Both letters focused on opposition to so-called red flag legislation, while also promoting mental health remedies and school safety measures.

If passed under the framework, the Senate bill would give states resources to implement red flag laws, which allow police or family members to petition the courts to keep firearms away from people if they represent a risk to themselves or others. It would not make red flag laws mandatory.

“We ask that you make efforts to introduce, cosponsor and support legislation that strengthens school safety so that they are no longer an easy target for these senseless actions of a few deranged individuals,” a different letter from the Wyoming House Freedom Caucus. read. “We ask that our congressional delegation fight against Pelosi’s radical gun control agenda. Gun control is nothing more than an attempt to turn law-abiding Americans into criminals!”

While all the letters express skepticism that gun-friendly Wyoming would ever implement red flag laws if the funds were available, lawmakers are still pushing for Barrasso and Lummis to defeat the bill.

“You may believe that your vote on this proposed bill carries little risk, as Wyoming has proven time and time again that our legislature would not vote to pass such laws,” Bouchard and Wharff’s letter said. “While that may be true, many other states will not have such a determination.”

Sen. Drew Perkins, R-Casper, was not involved in the group letter signed by 20 lawmakers, but sent one of his own also urging US senators to oppose the red flag legislation.

“Without clear due process prior to the denial of a basic right under the Bill of Rights, and with unelected government employees charged with implementing and enforcing the rules and regulations of said legislation, the ability to abuse and unconstitutionally confiscate firearms of those with legal possession of weapons is too great,” Senator Casper’s letter said.

He told the Star-Tribune that he didn’t sign the joint House-Senate letter because “he didn’t like the tone of the letter and didn’t offer any alternatives on how to work to make schools safer.”

Instead, Perkins wrote that the tragedies were caused by “mental illness and “emotional conditions” and that the “protection of our school-age children” will be the result of “better training, strengthening of schools, trained volunteers among staff school and teachers, better mental health services, a more engaged student body and community, and a serious look at the psychosis and paranoia of drug abuse, including marijuana.”

Rep. Jeremy Haroldson, R-Wheatland, signed both the Freedom Caucus letter and one sent by 20 lawmakers. He also advocated training and a focus on emotional conditions.

“Bad people would find something to hurt someone with something else,” he said. “Bad people hurt people. What is our best defense for our state? Is it to train and arm our teachers?”

in Wyoming, district employees can now hide carry-on luggage on school grounds if authorized by the local school board.

However, when it comes to the Uvalde shooting, Haroldson is skeptical of the circumstances.

“I find that very interesting if you look at the whole story surrounding the young man from the Texas shooting. He didn’t line up. He didn’t make sense. I don’t know of any 18-year-old who has $9,000 to buy two AR-15s,” Haroldson began.

“I’m just saying that something is not aligned here. Where do you get your money from, where do the funds come from to be able to do these things? I’m not making a statement on this, but I think there are people who will fund the demise of the Second Amendment.”

The idea that an outside party funds mass shootings to further an agenda is a common conspiracy theory that is pushed after mass shootings. The Uvalde shooting is still under investigation, but there is a great deal of evidence to suggest that it was not a false flag attack.

Haroldson also questions whether family structure contributes to mass shootings and mentioned that the Uvalde gunman lived with his grandmother.

“We have generations that don’t have fathers, that don’t have mothers, that don’t have a solid structure,” he said. “What if that young man had a father in the mix who would take his son out to shoot?”

“We need to start resetting the family structure,” he added later.

In the end, the votes of Barrasso and Lummis might not matter. If they vote against the legislation, provisional tallies show supporters of the Senate gun bill could overcome a filibuster and ultimately pass it.

While Barrasso has not taken a position, one of the letters took issue with the fact that the Wyoming senator was seen with McConnell when he gave his tentative endorsement.

“Senator Barrasso, you were seen standing next to Senator Mitch McConnell as he proclaimed his support for gun control measures directed at the Senate,” the letter said.

Bouchard, a former gun lobbyist and founder of the hawkish Second Amendment lobbying group, Wyoming Gun Owners, piled in.

“He was seen with a smile on his face as McConnell said he was going to capitulate,” Bouchard said.

Lawmakers also argued that guns should not be taken from law-abiding citizens because a small number of people commit gun violence.

“It is clear from the history of our country that those who obey the laws of this land will do so while armed. However, those who will perpetrate evil will do so with or without weapons, and when the former are armed, the latter are more meek,” the House Freedom Caucus letter said. Gun control legislation will not and cannot protect our school children.”

Haroldson and Bouchard agreed.

“Do we make it harder for the guys who haven’t snapped because of the one snapper?” Bouchard asked.