In the wake of the Wyoming Legislature repealing gun-free zones last year, two bills this year are looking to expand gun rights on college campuses by lowering age restrictions and lifting legal requirements related to concealed carry.
House Bill 95 would allow people age 21 and older to conceal carry at the University of Wyoming and community colleges without a permit. House Bill 96, meanwhile, would lower the minimum age to acquire a concealed carry permit from 21 to 18.
The bills’ main sponsor, Rep. Jeremy Haroldson, R-Wheatland, told Cowboy State Daily that the bills would clarify last year’s legislation and bolster 18-year-olds’ Second Amendment rights.
“You can go fight and die for your country at 18, but you can’t get a concealed carry permit,” he said.
He added that his bill would not allow 18-year-old high school seniors to carry concealed firearms in K-12 public schools.
Retired UW veterinary pathologist Donal O’Toole was staunchly opposed to campus carry to begin with. He told Cowboy State Daily that he thinks lowering the age would just make a bad situation worse.
“Having them (guns) on campus is, to me, an obscenity, and it’s stupid,” he said.
However, “if that’s what we want as a democracy, that’s what we’re going to get,” he added.
Where Things Stand Now
In the broad sense, Wyoming is a “constitutional carry” state. That means people over 21 may carry firearms, either openly or concealed, without a concealed carry permit in most public places.
Prior to last year, civilians couldn’t carry firearms in designated gun free zones — such as inside buildings at UW and on K-12 public school grounds.
Haroldson led the charge during the 2025 legislature to pass a bill that repealed those gun-free zones. Gov. Mark Gordon let it pass into law without signing it, and it took effect in July.
But there’s caveats. In those former gun-free zones, only people over 21 with valid permits may carry concealed firearms. And open carry in those places is still banned.
Haroldson said even if both his new bills pass into law, open carry would still be banned in those places.
Also, civilian firearms remain banned during university or college events at which alcohol is served.
No Permit Required Over Age 21
Haroldson said HB 95 is aimed at clearing up some unintended consequences of the gun-free zones repeal.
Last year’s legislation allowed only people with Wyoming permits to carry concealed firearms into university or college facilities.
“What I didn’t realize is, that eliminated anybody outside the state of Wyoming,” he said.
So, for instance, the parent of a UW student from Montana still can’t carry concealed inside buildings on campus, even if they have a valid Montana concealed carry permit.
By eliminating the permit requirement, HB 95 would extend “constitutional carry” to the former gun-free zones, for those over age 21.
UW students or others age 18 to 20 would still need a concealed carry permit to carry their guns into UW or community college facilities, he said.
Machine Guns Mounted On Pickups
O’Toole joked that the logical end of loosening gun policy on campus should be machine guns mounted on students’ pickups, “and maybe one mounted in the dorms.”
He’s originally from Ireland and recalled his elderly father visiting Laramie during the time of “The Troubles.”
That was a series of violent political and religious sectarian upheavals in their home country, from the 1960s to the 1990s.
He said his father was flabbergasted at how easy it was to walk into a Laramie gun store and handle firearms.
“That was at a time in Ireland when we were gunning each other down in the streets," O’Toole said.
Given the current political tensions in America, he said he can’t see any good end to further loosening firearm regulations on campus.
Even so, he said that HB 95 and 96 amount to “virtue signaling” for the politically conservative base at a time when the Legislature should be concentrating on the budget.
That’s especially important with UW facing $40 million budget cuts, he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
