Wyoming is set to lower the age for a permit to carry a concealed firearm from 21 to 18, a move some say is a long-overdue recognition of 18-to 20-year-old’s Second Amendment Rights.
Others worry that it will make weapons more accessible for people too immature to handle them.
Kaelyn Post, 18, of Riverton, told Cowboy State Daily that she plans to take advantage of the lowering of the age requirement and apply for a permit to carry a concealed handgun.
“I think it’s a great thing that they’re doing this. But I think it should also have a training class to go along with it, just to make sure that people know how to use guns and use them properly,” Post said.
Her father taught her gun safety and marksmanship from a young age, she said.
Gun safety advocate Beth Howard told Cowboy State Daily that she thinks Wyoming made a mistake when the Legislature passed House Bill 96, and Gov. Mark Gordon signed it into law on March 7.
It’s set to take effect July 1.
“My thoughts are, generally, that it’s a tragedy,” she said.
She noted there have been recent murders in Cheyenne involving alleged shooters under age 21, and she worries that allowing 18- to 20-year-olds to carry firearms will just make matters worse.
Wyoming has Constitutional carry, meaning people over age 21 who can lawfully own firearms may carry them concealed without a permit.
That won’t change; 18 to 20-year-olds will still need permits to carry concealed weapons.
Women’s Self Protection
Post moved from Pinedale to Riverton to attend Central Wyoming College and said she frequently travels alone on lonely stretches of highway to go back home for visits.
As a young woman, being able to carry a firearm that she knows how to use will make her feel safer, she said. And it will also put her father’s mind at ease.
“My dad is always worried, because sometimes gas stations can be kind of sketchy,” she said.
Women frequently face spooky situations, she added.
She recalled while working as a waitress, “there would be men out in back standing by the trashes (garbage bins), just waiting for us to come out, so they could watch us,” she said.
Mark Jones of Buffalo, a national director for Gun Owners of America, told Cowboy State Daily that concern over young women’s safety was a big part of the push for HB 96.
“We heard from a lot of parents of young women. They want them to be able to protect themselves,” he said.
Maturity Factor
Howard said that she and many others remain unconvinced that 18-year-olds, on average, are mature enough to carry concealed firearms.
Wyoming community colleges came out strongly against lowering the age requirement, and for good reason, she said.
“There’s no magic age of maturity,” she said.
She recalled when Wyoming lowered the legal drinking age from 21 to 19 in 1973. It was raised back to 21 in 1988.
“It went back to 21 because too many teenagers and 20-year-olds were dying on the highways or killing people. I hope we just don’t have to learn this again the hard way (about concealed carry),” she said.
“I have three sons who are now all responsible adults. I know they were not always the most responsible people at 18 years of age,” Howard said.
“There’s plenty of evidence that shows that the human brain, and especially for males, doesn’t fully mature until well after age 18,” she said.
Post said that as she sees it, maturity varies among her peers.
“I think some people’s maturity level at 18 is lower than others,” she said.
Training Requirements?
Wyoming doesn’t require hands-on firearms training to obtain a concealed carry permit.
Post said she favors required training.
“I think if somebody is willing to go to the class and go through the training, that demonstrates a level of maturity,” she said.
“I was very fortunate to learn about firearms from a very early age, but that’s not the case with a lot of people,” Post added.
“I know a lot of people who don’t know how guns work. They want to carry, but you shouldn’t be carrying a gun around if you don’t know how they work,” she said.
Training on a regular basis helps people prepare for the extreme stress of responding to a life-or-death situation, she said.
“You need to know that you never pull a gun unless you’re ready to shoot, like my dad taught me,” she said.
“A gun is the absolute last resort of all things,” Post said.
It’s a good idea to carry something like pepper spray, to deal with situations before they escalate to the point of having to shoot, she said.
If that fateful moment comes, people must know how to handle their firearms well and get them on target quickly, she said.
“You’re going to be in shock in the moment, depending on what’s going on, and you’re going to have to know how to do that correctly,” Post said.
A Matter Of Rights
Jones said concealed carry for younger adults is nothing new. With the passage and signing of HB 96, Wyoming became the 29th state to set the concealed carry permit age limit at 18.
“To some people, it sounds extraordinary (allowing 18-year-olds to carry concealed weapons) but it really isn’t,” he said.
“I’d think if there were problems with it, you would know it” because of trouble in other states, Jones said.
He sees lowering the concealed carry permit age as a matter of recognizing younger Americans’ Second Amendment rights.
“We put 18 to 20-year-olds in the military and send them overseas, but we deny them a Constitutional right,” he said.
HB 96 aligns with Wyoming’s stance as a strong gun rights state, he added.
“I don’t know how Wyoming went this long without doing this,” he said. “We’re probably one of the top states for gun rights, but how this one slipped under the radar, I don’t know.”
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
