By Anthony Bouchard
The headline should read “Gun owners beware of formers U.S Attorneys”. But it’s best that you decide…

In 2004, The Sovereign State of Wyoming enacted legislation that established a procedure to expunge misdemeanor convictions “for the purposes of restoring any firearm rights lost”.

This was specifically to aid Wyoming citizens in restoring gun rights if they had a misdemeanor such as domestic violence on their record. The NRA backed Lautenberg legislation bans gun ownership and use of guns or ammunition by individuals convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence. Wyoming legislators recognized there was nothing to protect individuals that were erroneously convicted.

The unfairness of the amendment was that it applied retroactively. So anyone who took a “plea” and accepted and agreed upon sentence suddenly had a large penalty added to their bargain, they lost their gun rights retroactively.

Another unintended consequence of the Lautenberg Amendment was that Police and Correctional Officers across the country were terminated for misdemeanor domestic violence that might have happened several years prior. Of course many of the Peace Officers found ways to expunge their records.

The Wyoming legislation would have given citizens a process to remove such a misdemeanor from their record so they could legally purchase and own firearms or just go hunting.

That brings us to the feds fighting back in Wyoming V. United States of America BATF and Matt Mead was on the side of the “Gun Grabbers” and as the U.S. Attorney welcomed a brief filed by the Brady Campaign. Obviously former U.S. Attorney Mead puts more stock in the Brady Campaign than in the people of Wyoming.

Wyoming argued that ”an expungement granted pursuant to this section shall only be used for the purposes of restoring firearm rights that have been lost to persons convicted of misdemeanors. Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the enhancement of penalties for second or subsequent convictions of misdemeanors under the laws of this state”.

However Matt Mead, a Jackson Hole native has historically fought on the side of the “gun control crowd” and he has used firearms for a conviction even when the search warrant stated nothing about firearms.

The Wyoming GOP Platform on the “Second Amendment” states, “Supports our rights as stated in the U.S. and Wyoming Constitution as the fundamental guarantees of free speech, to keep and bear arms, private property rights and protection from an oppressive government”.

However Mead stated this about his own platform, -Mead also said he believes in the principles of the state GOP’s platform, but that does not mean he will literally agree with every word of it. “We should commit to the spirit of it“.

Mead has an appealing video on his website but it lacks any substance and speaks about working as a prosecutor and that brings to the bitter taste of trusting these “special attorneys” with gun rights. Laramie County Prosecutor Scott A. Homar also ran on the GOP platform but failed to hold up the Second Amendment when he went after the victim instead of thugs.

Gun owners need more than a “commitment to the of the spirit” of the Bill of Rights and the Sovereign State of Wyoming doesn’t need another U.S. Attorney like Dave Freudenthal to be the governor.

To review the Gun Owners of America Amicus brief
The Brady Campaign Amicus brief
Former NRA Director Exposes Gun Control Schemes

Executive Director of WyGO is now writing on examiner.com as the Cheyenne Gun Rights Examiner.

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U.S. District Court Rules: Leave Open-Carriers Alone - Fourth Amendment Applies

On September 8, 2009, United States District Court for New Mexico, Judge Bruce D. Black entered a summary judgment in a civil case against six police officers of Alamogordo NM.

In a nutshell: Mathew St. John paid and went into the movie theater to enjoy a movie and he happened to be wearing his holstered firearm in plain view, reacting to a call from the manager of the theater, the police physically removed him from the theater, disarmed him, searched him and removed from his person his identification.

The police allowed Mr. St. John to re-enter the theater as long as he left his firearm in his vehicle as he was not under arrest.

It’s legal to carry your firearm in plain-view without a permit in New Mexico as well as twenty five other state including Wyoming but what is important here is this case was won in U.S. District Ten which includes Wyoming.

Judge Black concluded that as a matter of law the police officers violated Mr. St. John’s Constitutional Fourth Amendment Rights because they physically seized and disarmed him.

Mr. St John’s attorney was happy with the ruling and is now proceeding to the jury trial requesting damages. He stated: “Great to see the Court carefully consider the issues presented by both sides and conclude that the U.S. Constitution prohibits the government from detaining and searching individuals solely for exercising their rights to possess a firearm as guaranteed by our state and federal constitutions.”

Judge Black denied the officers “qualified immunity” a defense that allows government officials acting in good faith to avoid any liability for violating law that isn’t clearly established.

From the courts decision: “relying on well-defined Supreme Court precedent, the Tenth Circuit and its sister courts have consistently held that officers may not seize or search an individual without a specific, legitimate reason. . . . The applicable law was equally clear in this case. Nothing in New Mexico law prohibited Mr. St. John from openly carrying a firearm in the Theater.  Accordingly, Mr. St. John’s motion for summary judgment is granted with regard to his Fourth Amendment and New Mexico constitutional claims. Defendants’ motion for summary judgment is denied with regard to the same and with regard to qualified immunity.”

This decision is great news for Wyoming and the rest of the country concerning open-carry and constitutional rights in the truest sense, we need to be advocates of holding on to not only the Second Amendment but the Fourth and Fifth as well and this case should solidify this concept.

Food for thought - When considering ”newer and better” legislation we need to test it against what we already have and ask will it give-away other protections such as the Fourth Amendment as evidenced in this case.

View the courts ruling click here   View District Court Map click here

Half truths that are used to ram anti-gun legislation down our throat and an example of a politician that speaks the same rhetoric.

 

 About .02 percent of the population of Wyoming committed suicide and of that number 77% used a firearm to do so, the Brady Campaign uses figures like this as their logical reason to impose the anti-gun agenda in the state of Wyoming, they take this number and wave it as their battle flag against firearms, keep reading to see what the numbers are….

“Wyoming is not even trying to recognize its own gun violence problem,” and “It’s a terrible shame.” said Doug Pennington of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, in a recent interview in the Sublette Examiner.(Pinedale WY)

Even more troubling, Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, R-Cheyenne is on the record for comments about legislation to ease concealed-carry regulations, he said he owns guns and enjoys shooting. However, he said Wyoming is among the top states in the country in terms of gun-related deaths by population and said the state doesn’t need legislation to encourage more people to carry guns.

Zwonitzer quoted the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which states in part that a “well-regulated militia” is necessary to the security of a free state. He said he wouldn’t have a problem with the bill if it specified that members of the Wyoming National Guard have a right to carry weapons.

Yes, he used the Brady logic and the “guns are for the militia” argument, for the record Zwonitzer broke away from his party and he voted against this bill at the final vote.

Whoops, looks like Rep. Dan Zwonitzer swallowed some Brady Kool-Aid.

While it may be true that suicide by firearm may be high in Wyoming, firearms are not the cause, what the “Brady Bozos” fail to point out is, Wyoming is a state with one of the highest gun ownership rates in the U.S. and one of the lowest murder rates, in 2007 Wyoming had 16 Murders.

The truth is, Wyoming is living proof that “An Armed Society is a Polite Society”.

To compare Wyoming with an area with similar population numbers and the toughest gun laws in the U.S., Washington D.C. has a very low Suicide rate, but wait, in 2007 they had 181 murders and 8,320 violent-crimes, that’s 175 more murders and 7069 more Violent-crimes than in Wyoming.

The truth about D.C.,  it’s a total embarrassment to the Brady Campaign, so much so they don’t even track the numbers on it, D.C. already has everything that the Brady crowd desires, and the crime rate is off the charts!

In 2007, Wyoming had a population of around 522,830, of that number there were 16 persons that were murdered, 7 of those were committed with a firearm and 82 persons took their own life using a firearm.

Interestingly, in the same year in Vermont, a state that already has the least restrictive gun laws and a permit isn’t required to conceal-carry, reported a total of 12 murders, 9 of which were with a firearm.

The Brady Campaign would have us disarm a large portion of the 99.98% for the benefit of the .02%, does this make any sense? only to the criminals.

The Brady Campaign cares no more about the high suicide rate in Wyoming than in the rest of rural America, they just use the numbers to push their agenda.

Obviously, the Brady Campaign and some of our politicians, need math lessons. WyGO’s only purpose here, is to expose the lies, half-truths, and the politicians that build upon them.

We believe, it’s idiotic for the Brady Campaign and our Elected Officials to impose their anti-gun agenda in our state, and our message is simple, Wyoming citizens enjoy hunting, shooting, buying and collecting firearms, but mostly we appreciate our right to bear arms and protect ourselves as stated in the Wyoming State Constitution, Article 1 Section 24 The right of the citizens to bear arms in the defense of themselves and the state shall not be denied.

‘Make my day’ law allows weapons charge to be tossed

“In the motion, Steele wrote that the state couldn’t meet its burden of proof. In May, Goodrich’s defense attorney, Nick Carter, argued that the charge should be thrown out, saying that under a new state statute his client didn’t break the law.”

Click here to read article in Gillete News Record