Wyo Gun Owners React To Pulling Of Gun Bill [AUDIO]

When the controversial Wyoming Gun Bill HB0059 was introduced it was, according to it's supporters who spoke with me on Wake Up Wyoming, supposed to be a bill that would restore gun rights to those who had lost them and helped protect retail gun stores from suits against them. [Listen to the audio of those conversations on these links]

But the detractors of the bill said that the bill was really a back door method that would lead to gun confiscation.

We  cleared a day on the morning show to bring both sides of the argument on air. The invitation was extended to Aaron Dorr of Wyoming Gun Owners and Senator Anthony Bouchard and at first they seemed interesting in joining us. We are not sure why they changed their minds. We had to go on air with only one side of the argument.

The bill was pulled by Senator Bill Pownell just a few days after our broadcast. It seems the public pressure was a bit more than he expected.

Mr. Pownell released a statement shortly after pulling the bill. “As a Wyoming native, gun owner and law enforcement officer of 38 years, I’ve been a staunch defender of the Second Amendment my entire life. Let me be clear, this bill does not take away guns from honest, law-abiding citizens, it only helps address laws on the books today.”

The morning the bill was pulled Mr. Dorr, of Wyoming Gun Owners called the show. His take on what he believes to be the purpose of the bill had not changed. He also does not trust the people who sponsored the bill.

[AUDIO OF AARON DORR'S PHONE CALL IS BELOW]

During the phone call I gave Mr. Dorr the opportunity to show where the language of the bill provided a back door to causing anyone to loose their gun rights. Also, where has a bill like this become law and led to such a thing. He said he did not have the information in front of him to quote, at that moment. He is welcome to come back to the show at any time and prove his case.

The on air questions to Mr. Dorr prompted the following FaceBook instant message to me from Senator Bouchard. "The language of HB-59 is irrelevant. It's the federal 'process' that must be followed to get off the federal list. State procedures WILL NOT take someone off of a federal prohibition list. PERIOD. -and- to get off of the state list, it will be still up to the liberal players, judges and health providers to approve someone to be removed from the 'state' list. Again, these two systems, state and federal work entirely different and independent from each other. I cannot stress this enough, it's not the details in HB-59, US Code that dictates the process to get off the list. And last, you better have money for a good lawyer to go through the process." Mr. Bouchard was good enough to let me post this message in this article.

Both sides of this discussion agree on one thing, this discussion is far from over. Introducing such a bill during a Wyoming Budget Session is hard enough. I'm sure we will be chatting about this again during the 2021 session.

-- Glenn Woods