Protesters Stage 'Die-In' On Capital Floor Over Banning Gun-Free Zones

Those walking through the Wyoming Capitol rotunda on Monday had to be careful not to step on a hand or foot. That was because around 20 protesters held a “Die-In At The Capitol,” an event protesting House Bill 172 legislation that would ban all gun-free zones in Wyoming.

The bill is on the governor’s desk for consideration after passing through the House and Senate. He’ll have until Tuesday to veto it, sign it, or let it pass into law without his signature.

The publicized purpose of the event was to put pressure on the governor to veto the bill, an action he took on an almost identical bill last year. In that instance the Legislature had already adjourned before it could override his veto.

The group of high school and college students wore shirts with red paint splotch to symbolize blood resulting from a public shooting event and took up the main floor of the Capitol for about 30 minutes.

Around five Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers oversaw the event, standing guard over the protesters.

At one point Gov. Mark Gordon came out and talked to the event organizer Sophia Gomelsky.

Gomelsky told Cowboy State Daily that the governor expressed understanding for their position but also said that the Legislature may override his veto if he gives one.

“We’re aware that might be a consequence, but we’re hoping that when the representatives and folks up there see their constituents down here on the floor, that might snap them back into reality,” Gomelsky said.

Many of the Gen-Z-aged protesters like University of Wyoming student Carter Worcester expressed fear about what effect the bill will have on their schools.

This generation has experienced more gun violence up close in school settings than what’s been seen in the past and Worcester said his fellow UW classmates are constantly talking about this topic.

“It’s hard not to talk about this topic every time a news article comes out,” he said. “Whether or not a bill is at the Legislature, people on campus remain worried.”

Gomelsky believes there’s a lack of support for the bill around the state and that those in support of the bill have been ignoring student and teacher’s perspectives.

“We won’t go on with business as usual if our lives are put at risk,” she said.

Reaction

State Rep. Jeremy Haroldson, R-Wheatland, the sponsor of HB 172, said although he commends the students for taking the time to exercise their First Amendment rights, he doesn’t see eye-to-eye with the conclusions they make.

“I believe that all of us have the opportunity and the right to feel whatever we feel about legislation,” he said. “But I think that what needs to be understood is, we’re talking about constitutional rights.”

Haroldson believes that in states where gun free zones have been banned like Utah and Colorado, shootings have gone down, not up.

“The statistics don’t line up with their fear,” he said. “The places where we’ve seen campus carry, we’re not seeing things falling apart, we’re not seeing students getting shot. We can go back and see places that have been opened up to carry, we’re not seeing the mass shootings.”

Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson, was another one of the lawmakers who came out to talk to the group.

“I’m glad the students exercised their First Amendment rights to protest a bill that they know puts them at an increased risk of gun violence,” he said.

Rep. Daniel Singh, R-Cheyenne, who voted in support of the bill, said he was thankful that the protesters came out on Monday. He also said they didn’t change his mind much about gun-free zones.

“I don’t know if this protest has changed how I feel about the bill,” Singh said, “but just taking the time to come out here, get young people involved, talk to lawmakers, even if we disagree on this bill, this issue, or whatever, now they have the person to contact to be able to be empowered to go to talk one of their local officials.”

Story Behind The Protest

Gomelsky, director of the University of Wyoming student government, said the event wasn’t organized by any one group and was merely a collection of like-minded students concerned about their safety if HB 172 passes into law.

The bill would affect all public spaces in Wyoming, including college campuses, high schools and the Wyoming Capitol.

Sara Burlingame, executive director of LGBTQ advocacy group Wyoming Equality, was the one who got Gordon from his office to speak to the students. Burlingame assisted the students throughout the event but told Cowboy State Daily she didn’t organize the protest.

Burlingame said she asked Gomelsky on Sunday how she could support the event and did so by sending out a press release and attending it.

Joey Correnti, executive director of rural advocacy group Rural Wyoming Matters, found this teamwork hypocritical although he also was pleased by the showing of First Amendment rights.

“Based on this group’s previous arguments, I can’t protest against or have an opinion on abortion because I am not a woman,” he said. “So by that logic, none of them can protest gun free zones unless they’ve been shot.”

There was a small dispute before the protest started about what the participants could bring inside to the Capitol. Wyoming Highway Patrol Colonel Tim Cameron said this mostly pertained to signs that the group wanted to bring inside that they were not allowed to.

“We pointed out that you can’t bring signs, you can’t bring flags, and if their activity of laying down caused a disruption of people’s ingress or egress, we would tell them, ‘Now you’re causing a disruption you have to go,’” he said. “We talked about constitutional rights back and forth. Our message is we’re here to ensure that you get to exercise those rights, but at the same time, not impede other people’s rights.”

Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.