Lawmakers tabled a bill that would have provided some immunity for individuals who agree to hold onto firearms for someone else, an agreement intended to help people experiencing a mental health crisis.
Lt. Col. Karen Hinkle with the Wyoming National Guard told the interim joint Military, Highway and Transportation Committee there are a lot of circumstances like this in the state.
“Keeping that oral agreement as an option would be very important for them because the reality is most of these things are spur of the moment, quick-reacting to crisis moments where there isn't necessarily time to plan, and it's just, ‘Give me your gun, I'm going to hold onto it, once you're feeling better I'll give it back to you,’” Hinkle said.
The Legislative Service Office told lawmakers seven other states have passed similar legislation, including Montana, Nebraska, Iowa, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Maine.
Wyoming struggles with gun-related deaths, ranking highest in the nation for gun-related suicides in 2023, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. But lawmakers questioned the legal legitimacy of oral agreements and felt that legal conflicts could still arise from an individual refusing to return a gun.
Sen. John Kolb (R-Rock Springs) was concerned the bill could infringe on Second Amendment rights. Not everyone is a lawyer, and Kolb believes trying to work out a strong and fair legal agreement without that experience could lead to a violation of rights.
“Do you think these people are sophisticated enough to come up with a [written agreement]?” said Kolb. “I guess my concern is, how do you then defend your denial of your Second Amendment rights? You want your firearm back and the said other person is afraid now that they're going to face liability. They don't give it back. What type of conflict are we going to get into there with trying to help suicide prevention?”
At one point, lawmakers suggested the bill be sent to the Judiciary Committee to deal with Second Amendment concerns. As for creating oral agreements, Lt. Col. Hinkle said the military “loves templates and forms,” and as such could create the basic framework for creating oral legal agreements.
“It's not out of the question to have a template available that could be provided to folks. And I certainly think that would be something that could be made publicly available,” said Hinkle.
While the bill was scheduled under “Military Suicide Prevention” on the committee’s agenda, there was no language in it defining that this law would only apply to soldiers. Lawmakers did not address four recent deaths of airmen stationed at F.E. Warren Air Force base, even though one was deemed a murder-suicide.
Since the scope of the bill involved everyone from legal gun owners to people who may have been given a firearm by family, most lawmakers believed the bill was not ready for primetime.
“I've got probably 25 amendments for this bill. I just don't know if we want to go through all that process without deciding if that's the process we want to follow, or if there's a way to shorten it for the benefit of everyone here in this committee,” said Rep. Bob Nicholas (R-Cheyenne). “I think we might want to have that discussion first.”
Sen. Stephan Pappas (R-Cheyenne) said he wanted to move forward with amending the bill. Legislators have been working on it for three years, and Pappas believed it will get kicked down the road again if sent to a different committee.
“We've worked this for many years now … and to now, at the last hour, the last meeting, to transfer it, try to transfer it to another committee, it'll just put it off for another session,” said Pappas. “I, for one, want to work the bill and see where it goes.”
The bill was tabled with the intention of working on it outside of committee.
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.
