Wyoming Pro-Gun Bill Passes Senate, But Can It Survive Legal Challenge?

I love the Second Amendment. I think it's absolutely vital for a free society. When I look at the countries of Europe that used to enjoy freedom, but have numerous gun control laws now that keep the population disarmed, I also see countries that kick in doors over memes and other acts that show freedom isn't a thing there any longer.

So the Second Amendment needs to be protected.

In Wyoming, a bill seeking to do just that passed the Senate.

The bill named the "Second Amendment Protection Act" could be Wyoming’s “insurance policy” against a hypothetical dark future where masked federal agents trample residents' rights, a legislator said Thursday, prior to the bill passing the Senate.

Senate File 101 aims to bar Wyoming law enforcement agencies from enforcing any federal gun regulations that violate residents’ Second Amendment rights.

It passed its third and final reading before the Senate on Thursday by a 26-to-5 vote. It now moves to the House.

Echoes Of Minneapolis

Speaking in favor of SF 101 prior to the vote, Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, seemed to make references to recent events in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Tensions boiled between some residents there and federal immigration and border patrol agents, and there have been two fatal agent-involved shootings.

Addressing his remarks to Senate President Sen. Bo Biteman, R-Ranchester, Case said the bill could serve as a bulwark against a seemingly similar “hypothetical situation.”

“Perhaps federal agents arrive in our cities and seek to harm our Constitutional rights. I mean I could sit here and imagine a dystopian future, Mr. President (Biteman), where there might be federal police on these streets, maybe wearing masks. Maybe looking to harm peaceful protesters. Maybe even to harm people who are legally carrying firearms,” Case said.

Look, I get it.

The problem is that I'm not sure how much it would actually protect from that "dark future" happening. After all, what we're seeing in Minneapolis isn't the result of an out-of-control federal government trying to destroy people's civil liberties. These are illegal aliens, many of whom are convicted felons under US law, who are being protected by the local government that refuses to cooperate with federal agents.

If Wyoming law enforcement agencies refuse to cooperate with federal agents on existing gun laws, it could theoretically spark a similar swarming of the state by federal agents.

In other words, if you're not careful, this could spark the very dystopia it's purported to be about preventing.

I'm not saying that there's no place for a law like this. I actually like these kinds of laws, for the most part, if for no other reason than because this is the approach Democrats have taken on immigration, so what's good for the goose is good for the gander, and all that.

Let's just not oversell this as something it's not.

Protect gun rights. Don't make it easy for a tyrannical government to enforce them. Those are enough.

Saying it'll prevent what we're seeing in Minneapolis, though, is more than a bit of a reach. It's a sign that people forgot why Minneapolis is happening in the first place.

Of course, if we get to that point, then it's probably time to view things a lot differently with regard to how we respond, don't you think?

Editor’s Note: President Trump and Republicans across the country are doing everything they can to protect our Second Amendment rights and right to self-defense.

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