There’s still a decent chance that Wyoming’s public colleges and university will no longer be “gun-free zones” at some point in the near future, but that change is going to have to come from lawmakers and not the University of Wyoming itself.
On Friday, the university’s board of trustees narrowly voted against a proposal that would have allowed lawful concealed carry in many parts of the campus. The 6-5 vote to keep the campus “gun-free” came after several months of debate, which was sparked by Gov. Mark Gordon’s veto of a bill last session that would have undone most of the “gun-free zones” in the state.
Gordon instead called on “school districts, community colleges, and the University of Wyoming to take up these difficult conversations again and establish policies that allow for the safe carrying of concealed weapons within their facilities.” The trustees abided by the first part of Gordon’s ask, but rejected his call to establish a reasonable campus carry policy.
“A fundamental belief I’ve had ever since I got involved in education, is that guns do not belong in schools, period,” Trustee David Fall told the board.
Fall, alongside trustees Brian Bonner, Carol Linton, Macey Moore, Laura Schmid-Pizzato and Michelle Sullivan voted against the policy, while Chairman Kermit Brown and trustees Brad LaCroix, Jim Mathis, John McKinley and David True voted in favor of it.
This is unlikely the end of the discussion about guns at the state’s sole public four-year university campus, Brown suggested, pointing to the Legislature’s upcoming 2025 session.
As the chairman indicated, the decision by the trustees doesn’t end the conversation, and the GOP legislature is likely to come up with a policy that’s more expansive than anything the board would have come up with. In that sense, today’s vote may be good news for Second Amendment advocates in the state, at least in the long term.
But while lawmakers are almost certain to revisit this issue in the next session, I’d caution those activists not to get too cocky or overconfident. After all, HB 125 was vetoed by Gordon, and despite passing the House and Senate by wide margins legislative leaders declined to call a special session to override that veto and several others issued by the governor. If gun owners want to repeal many of the state’s “gun-free zones” next year they’re going to have to work for it, and their advocacy should start now.
The good news is that the Wyoming Freedom Caucus will have a majority of seats in the GOP-dominated House, and the caucus has already indicated that getting rid of many of the state’s “sensitive places” will be a top priority in 2025. The measure will also likely get support from a majority of state senators, but depending on who’s in Senate leadership we could see some parliamentary moves to sideline the legislation. The best way to prevent that from happening is to start encouraging lawmakers to stand up for the Second Amendment once more… and be prepared to override the governor if necessary next time around.
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