Wyoming Senate Sustains Veto Of Gun Bill As Session Concludes

SF-101 fixes our current weak SAPA law in three ways:

1. Allows for civil penalties in the event of a violation
2. Prohibits the feds from using Wyoming cops in an ATF task force
3. Removes words in the current SAPA law that can be exploited

But the bill was widely opposed by Wyoming law enforcement agencies. All 23 Wyoming County Sheriff's opposed the bill, and many of the sheriff's returned to the Senate on Wednesday to lobby lawmakers to support the veto.

Governor Mark Gordon, in a Tuesday news release in support of his veto, published part of a letter from Todd Lyons, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement;

“The legislation undermines law enforcement by threatening Wyoming police officers with criminal charges, civil lawsuits, and steep financial penalties for their employers simply for cooperating with federal law enforcement on firearm investigations, even when those investigations target violent offenders, traffickers, or organized criminal networks,” Lyons wrote.

Senate Reverses Earlier Vote For The Bill

While the Senate originally voted 26-5 in favor of SF 101, the override vote on Wednesday was 12 in favor of overriding the veto and 18 against.

Here is how they voted, with an "aye' vote being in favor of overriding the veto:

Ayes: Case, French, Gierau, Ide, Laursen, McKeown, Rothfuss, Pearson, Salazar, Scott, Steinmetz, Biteman
Nays: Anderson, Barlow, Boner, Brennan, Cooper, Crago, Crum, Dockstader, Hicks, Hutchings, Jones, Kolb, Landen, Love, Nethercott, Olsen, Pappas, Schuler
Excused: Driskill