Posted on 02/17/2012 5:51:48 AM PST by marktwain
CHEYENNE — The Wyoming House of Representatives narrowly voted down legislation Wednesday that would have prevented local government officials in the state from passing any gun control laws, under penalty of heavy fines or even removal from office.
House Bill 60, sponsored by state Rep. Kendell Kroeker, R-Evansville, got 38 votes, two short of the two-thirds majority needed for the legislation to be introduced.
The bill would have added teeth to a Wyoming law already on the books that gives the state primacy over gun laws and prohibits cities, counties and other local bodies from passing their own laws regulating or banning firearms except to prevent rioting, disturbances or disorderly assemblies.
But late last year, the Casper City Council controversially banned openly carried weapons at city government meetings; the Gillette City Council shelved a similar proposal in May.
Under the legislation, anyone who has a local gun rule enforced against them could sue for a permanent injunction and may be awarded up to $200,000. If any local official or employee knowingly passed or enforced such a law, they would be removed from office.
Speaking on the House floor Wednesday, Kroeker said asserting state primacy over gun rules would ensure that firearms regulations are consistent across the state.
But House Majority Leader Tom Lubnau, R-Gillette, said while he supports the idea, he questioned the wisdom of removing the provision allowing local governments to suppress gun-wielding rioters.
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Casper Councilman Paul Bertoglio, who was mayor when the City Council acted and who opposed the ordinance, said the Legislature should have focused on reasonable restrictions for open carry or addressed acceptable situations for local governments to regulate firearms.
Instead, he said the proposal attempted to strike all local government control.
“The bill itself was just way too far, it just exceeded any normal or any rational controls over potential problems where weapons could be involved.”
Absolutely.
If each and every jurisdiction has the authority to implement its own gun laws, it will create an illogical tangle of conflicting legislation which would effectively nullify Second Amendment rights.
Kansas City and St. Louis have historically been anti-gun, so the state legislature made sure that no local ordinance could trump state law. It makes sense, because everyone would be in a danger of becoming a felon if they didn’t know each municipality’s laws.
I think this another scheme by anti-Second Amendment people to make it impossible to pursue hunting or target shooting.
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