LARAMIE — In a reversal of its long-standing gun policy, the University of Wyoming might allow people to carry concealed firearms on campus.
Upcoming public forums “will provide information about the content of the draft rule, which would allow law-abiding and qualified people to carry firearms in many university buildings,” according to a statement from UW.
The full extent of changes the draft rule could bring remained under wraps Tuesday.
“It’s expected to go public tomorrow (Wednesday),” UW law professor George Mocsary told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday.
He declined to give any more details regarding the draft rule.
Mocsary is co-founder of the UW Firearms Research Center, which will host the public forums.
The first will be a webinar set for 12:30 p.m. Thursday, which will be focused on informing people about the details of the draft rule, Mocsary said. An in-person town hall meeting is set for 12:30 p.m. Monday in the West Ballroom of the Wyoming Union.
UW’s Board of Trustees is expected to consider the draft rule during its Nov. 20-22 meeting.
The draft rule should be published on the board’s website by 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to UW.
Under current UW policy, the public can’t carry firearms on campus, either open carry or concealed carry.
People can ask for clearance from the UW Police Department to carry a concealed gun on campus on a case-by-case basis. For instance, if they can prove a direct threat to their personal safety from a stalker.
Prompted By Gordon’s Veto
The draft rule and the public forums are in response to conditions set by Gov. Mark Gordon in March, when he vetoed a bill to eliminate Wyoming’s gun-free zones, UW President Ed Seidel said in a statement.
“As part of his veto of House Bill 125 during the 2024 legislative session, which would have allowed for anyone lawfully carrying a concealed weapon to do so on public property, including the university, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon charged state agencies, including UW, to ‘take up these difficult conversations again and establish policies that allow for the safe carry of concealed weapons within their facilities,’” Seidel stated.
HB 125, along with a companion Wyoming Senate Bill, passed both houses of the Legislature during the 2024 session.
Those who favored it argued that allowing gun-free zones at UW and elsewhere undermines Wyoming residents’ Second Amendment rights.
Opponents argued that allowing concealed carry everywhere isn’t safe. They also claimed that the state shouldn’t dictate firearms policy to private businesses or institutions such as UW, but should instead let those entities decide for themselves whether to allow guns.
In his veto letter at the time, Gordon favored the latter position.
“House Bill 125/Enrolled Act No. 49 erodes historic local control norms by giving sole authority to the Legislature to micromanage a constitutionally protected right,” Gordon wrote in his veto letter. “Any further clarification of the law, if this bill were enacted, would augment the Legislature’s reach into local firearms regulation.”
Efforts Continue To End Gun-Free Zones
Regardless of what UW decides, efforts to get rid of Wyoming’s gun-free zones altogether will continue during the 2025 Legislative session, a gun rights advocate said.
“I am focused on passing the repeal of gun free zones again in 2025, and this time, I think a veto override is possible,” Gun Owners of America spokesman Mark Jones of Buffalo told Cowboy State Daily.
Jones said he still isn’t pleased with the UW administration.
"What the bureaucrats at the university are doing represents hypocrisy, arrogance and a threat to our Constitutional republic,” he said.
“The reason is that the elected Wyoming Legislature passed a GOA-supported Bill to Repeal Gun-Free Zones in March 2024, and all of Wyoming's college presidents lobbied the Governor to veto it,” he added. “The university's actions are emblematic of rampant problems around America where unelected officials think they know better than the representatives the people elect.”
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
