Wyoming Republican Senators Aren’t GOA’s Favorite People Right Now

Wyoming lawmakers aren’t anti-gun. That’s pretty blasted obvious after they pretty much eradicated gun-free zones throughout the state. 

And I’m an advocate of not letting the perfect be the enemy of the better when it comes to restoring our gun rights. I’m willing to take a little less here and now than what I might ultimately want because I know we can always get to the next step later. It’s far more important to do what we can now versus allowing the status quo to hold.

So I’m not big on penalizing lawmakers for not going far enough.

Yet, in Wyoming, they passed something that is bound to be controversial, then refused to do something that should have been a much easier sell, and Gun Owners of America aren’t really thrilled with a lot of the state’s senators just now. Neither am I.

The GOA-backed Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act (HB0234) passed the Wyoming House on January 31 by a 56 to 3 vote only to be killed by 17 of 31 Wyoming Senators on February 21!

The bill would have prohibited the assignment of firearms-specific Merchant Category Codes (MCC) to any merchant located in Wyoming that is a seller of firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition. It would have also prohibited the tracking of firearms ownership.

…

HB0234 proposed to change current Wyoming statutes and require the Wyoming Attorney General (AG) to take action against credit card processors who establish these codes.

Current statutes makes it discretionary for the AG to even enforce the law!

Furthermore, the bill would have allowed citizens to take civil action in court against entities that establish MCCs if the AG failed to act.

Despite passing the House with a 95% majority and passing a Senate Committee by a 5-0 vote, 17 Wyoming Senators don’t think you deserve to have your Firearms Privacy protected.

Go and read the whole thing.

Look, Merchant Category Codes are a terrible idea and of, at best, limited utility in going after supposed criminals and potential mass shooters. That’s what they were supposedly intended to do, but there are always issues with them.

Yet, as noted, it’s a step toward a gun registry. The difference is that instead of the ATF or FBI keeping records, it’s credit card companies who have no vested interest in holding onto that data should the government call for it.

And banning them in Wyoming shouldn’t have been a difficult sell. The way it went through the House and a Senate committee is testimony to that. The bill sailed through, only to find defeat.

So why?

One would imagine that if it was a technical issue with the bill, someone would amend it so that the issue could be addressed, then it could either go back to the House for a new vote or face some kind of reconciliation process, if Wyoming has such an animal.

But that didn’t happen. It just got voted down, and there’s remarkably little news out there as to why.

That’s not remotely how it should be. There are questions that need to be answered. The people of Wyoming deserve to know why their lawmakers think they should be tracked by unaccountable and anti-gun financial institutions. 

This should not just be shrugged away. 

I’m not saying they’re anti-gun lawmakers because, well, they did kill gun-free zones. I’m just absolutely perplexed as to how they could vote this way and people have a right to know why.