Critical Update – Wyoming Legislative Agenda 2025!
In the November 5 Wyoming General Election, GOA-endorsed, pro-Second Amendment Conservatives won 32 House and 3 Senate races.
These House Conservatives elected a strong leadership slate including all four leadership positions going to GOA-endorsed candidates Chip Neiman (Speaker of the House), Scott Heiner (Majority Floor Leader), Jeremy Haroldson (Speaker Pro Tempore), and Ocean Andrew (Majority Whip). This is great news for the Second Amendment in Wyoming!
Results in the Senate are much less impressive and very concerning. Bo Biteman (Senate President) and Tim Salazar (Senate Vice President) formed a questionable coalition with Tara Nethercott (Majority Floor Leader) to take control of the Wyoming Senate. This coalition was supported, and even publicly touted, by a questionable state gun group with ties to New York and a history of anti-gun positions.
Second Amendment supporters should be rightly concerned with this strange and unexpected leadership slate. Biteman and Salazar both voted against Wyoming’s historic Second Amendment Protection Act in 2022 (https://wyoleg.gov/Legislation/2022/SF0102).
It is notable that Biteman and Salazar voted alongside Wyoming’s famously anti-gun Senate Democrat Chris Rothfuss (D – Laramie) against this legislation.
The 2022 Legislation still passed and can be found in Wyoming Statute 9-14-203 where it prohibits state or local officials from participating in Unconstitutional Federal Gun Control. In the two years following the passage of this legislation, many reputable Second Amendment groups and publications praised the legislation as one of America’s strongest Second Amendment Sanctuary laws.
The third member of the Leadership Team, Tara Nethercott, voted against GOA’s Senate effort to save the Repeal of Gun Free Zones in 2024 by a Recall Vote from Committee in the Senate (https://www.wyoleg.gov/Legislation/2024/HB0125).
Our supporters will remember when GOA worked to pull the historic Repeal of Gun Free Zones (HB0125) directly on the Senate Floor in 2024 after it had been “killed” in Senate Judiciary the night before.
Despite Nethercott’s opposition, and with strong work by GOA, the 2024 Bill was revived to pass the Senate before being ultimately vetoed by Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon.
As we enter the 2025 Wyoming Legislative Session, Second Amendment supporters are rightly concerned that the Senate Leadership team may work with the Wyoming Governor to further destroy pro-Second Amendment advances.
GOA is championing at least 5 pro-Second Amendment Bills this year!
We want to:
1) Pass, once again, the Repeal of Gun Free Zones that we championed in 2024 until it was vetoed by Senate Leadership’s ally, Governor Mark Gordon. That GOA-backed Bill was sponsored in both 2023 and 2024 by GOA-Endorsed Jeremy Haroldson. Haroldson, now the House Speaker Pro Tempore, plans to introduce this bill again in 2025.
2) Strengthen Wyoming’s 2022 SAPA law (please read Wyoming Statute 9-14-203). As GOA has said since day one of this debate, the law, like all law, is not perfect, but it is a solid protection of Second Amendment Rights we have always been committed to improving.
3) Strengthen prohibitions against Red Flag Gun Confiscation Orders.
4) Strengthen prohibitions against Credit Card Companies tracking firearms purchases. The 2024 Bill that passed the Legislature was so weak it gives the Wyoming Attorney General enforcement power over your Rights and says the AG “May” enforce the prohibitions. ENFORCEMENT IS NOT EVEN MANDATORY!
5) Fix Wyoming’s broken laws related to the Restoration of Rights to non-violent felons to ensure that law-abiding gun owners are not placed in jeopardy with Federal Agencies.
In the coming weeks and months, GOA will provide very specific details on the composition of the Wyoming House and Senate and how Bills are shaping up to protect and defend our Second Amendment Rights in Cheyenne during the 2025 legislative session.
Additionally, as always, we at GOA will continue to lead in Washington to ensure members of the U.S. Congress keep their promises and uphold our God-Given Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
Stay tuned for more information soon.