Dear editor:
Governor Mark Gordon should veto HB 125 - the bill to repeal gun free zones.
I do not care nearly as much about a survey the governor signed six years ago as I do about the fact that the Senate violated their own procedures to pass this dangerous bill.
Contrary to the article published in The Cowboy State Daily, 3/15/24, HB 125 did NOT “sail through both legislative chambers,” but in fact, it FAILED in the Senate Judiciary Committee and could not have been brought back to the Senate floor by the usual 2/3 vote required in the routine procedure for such a committee failure.
It could NOT have passed by a 2/3 vote, so instead, the bill advanced by a very shady and questionable process, of making a motion from the floor to remove the bill from committee (after the committee’s process was completed) by a simple majority vote of 16-15 and then voted it onto the floor by the same simple majority.
The public, agencies and committee’s input were bypassed and ignored. For this reason alone, for this breach of the public trust and of the Senate’s own procedure, HB 125 should be vetoed byGovernor Gordon, and I am frankly surprised that it hasn’t been vetoed yet.
There are more reasons than 500 words will allow to oppose this bad and poorly prepared bill.
A person only needs to watch the video of the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting to understand why the committee justifiably and correctly failed HB 125, or to view the digest: https://wyoleg.gov/2024/Digest/HB0125.pdf, to see the many amendments offered in both the House and the Senate in an effort to improve the safety of this bill.
There were amendments proposed even by those who support the bill, but Senators and the bill’s sponsors decided to push through this flawed bill rather than to pass a good bill.
Here is one excellent reason to veto HB 125, it is scheduled to take effect immediately upon being signed.
This leaves absolutely NO time for law enforcement to coordinate with K-12 schools, community colleges, the university, or public entities to establish appropriate protocol for an active shooter scenario. In the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, law enforcement testified that their current protocol for an active shooter situation is to assume that the person with the gun is the shooter, i.e. the bad guy.
Therefore, without any procedures in place now, a concealed carry permit holder is just as likely to be shot by law enforcement as an active shooter. How is anyone to know who’s who?
A vast majority of parents and educators oppose this bill. Most of the gun owners I know do as well.
So, Governor Gordon, please listen to your citizens, hold the legislators accountable to the democratic process, and VETO HB 125.
Beth Howard, Cheyenne
