Pro-Liberty legislation on Guns & Property Rights proposed by GOP legislators

by Michael W. Dean, Wyoming

Some interesting things going on here in the Rocky Mountain West...

There are three gun-rights bills going before the Wyoming legislature this month (as extra bills in a budget-only session), don't know that they will pass, one will probably get tabled and considered later. two are 10th Amendment bills that would allow guns made and used only in the state to not come under federal purview (circumventing the Interstate Commerce Clause), but unlike the Montana bill, one of these actually allows the state to prosecute federal agents who violate it.

The other bill would allow Wyoming non-felons to carry a gun concealed without a permit, like Alaska and Vermont.

From the Casper Tribune:

CHEYENNE -- A proposal that would allow people in Wyoming to carry concealed weapons without permits passed an initial legislative hurdle on Thursday.

If the bill passes, Wyoming would become only the third state in the nation, after Vermont and Alaska, to allow conceal-carry without a permit.

Under House Bill 113, the only people not allowed to carry concealed weapons in the state would be people under the age of 21, convicted felons, those convicted of drug-related charges, alcoholics, those with physical disabilities that impair their ability to handle firearms, and people who have lived in the state less than six months.

Currently, Wyoming residents must apply every five years for concealed weapons permits.

Rep. Lorraine Quarberg, the Thermopolis Republican sponsoring the bill, said the legislation is meant simply to spell out rights that are already guaranteed under the Wyoming Constitution and the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

"I just believe people have the right to protect themselves and defend themselves," Quarberg said. "And I want to make sure that we put it in statute and people know they can do it."

And then there's this from Utah...

Salt Lake City Tribune:

SALT LAKE CITY -- Conservative Utah lawmakers (photo of state capitol in SLC) want to spark a U.S. Supreme Court case that could ultimately allow states to develop resource-rich parcels of land that are now off limits where the federal government is the landlord.

The lawmakers said they will attempt to trigger an avalanche of legislation in the West through the use of eminent domain, which governments use to take private property for public use.

More than 60 percent of Utah is owned by the federal government, and policy makers here have long complained that federal ownership hinders their ability to generate tax revenue and adequately fund public schools.

Legislation was introduced in the Utah House on Thursday allowing the use of eminent domain on federal land. The effort has the full support of Republican Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who would have to defend the law.

Editor's Note - Michael W. Dean is the Libertarian Punk. His blog is listed on LR's Blog Roll.