The State Building Commission (SBC) gathered for a special meeting on June 17 to approve emergency rules on permitted and constitutional carry of firearms in state-owned buildings. The move was in preparation for the Wyoming Repeal Gun Free Zones Act that goes into effect on July 1.
The law allows individuals permitted to constitutional and concealed carry to bring their firearm inside publicly-owned buildings like the state Capitol. SBC is still formalizing rules and the extent to which one can carry inside most publicly-owned buildings.
The emergency rules are temporary, lasting 120 days, and will bring the SBC’s regulations into compliance with the repeal act. The Freedom Caucus championed the act, and Gov. Mark Gordon allowed the bill to pass into law without his signature earlier this year.
The SBC is likely to carry over much of its emergency rules in its final rules that the commission must begin crafting within 30 days of the law taking effect.
State Auditor Kristi Racines said “there are also personnel rules coming that will allow employees to carry.”
During the meeting, a public commenter, Constant Marquer of Cheyenne, pointed out the SBC’s rules write "public areas," while the repeal act says "public buildings." He suggested the wording might unintentionally narrow the extent to which individuals can legally carry a weapon outside of places like the hallways of public buildings, which brought on a lengthy legal discussion among the commission and attorneys present.
Gordon and Secretary of State Chuck Gray emphasized these emergency rules could be fixed when the SBC meets in July, but believed it was beneficial to talk about the issue now.
"The emergency rules provide us an opportunity to cover the gap as the secretary said, and I think we actually really do want to get this right, so thank you," said Gordon.
The SBC agreed to pass the emergency rules with an amendment removing the term "public areas" to avoid conflicts with existing state law.
A public comment period for rules will remain open until June 30 and the SBC may discuss more permanent rules at its next meeting on July 9.
This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.
