As we approach the end of 2017 and get ready for the 2018 legislative session, I wanted to take a moment to paint the big picture for you.

For far too long, gun owners in Wyoming have assumed that our rights were secure as long as we had a Republican majority in Cheyenne and Governor Mead in office.

Of course, that was never the case.

The Wyoming Senate has blocked the passage of pro-gun bills for half a decade until Senator Bouchard forced their hand earlier this year.

And Governor Mead’s veto of HB137 as a favor to the rabidly anti-gun Wyoming Association of Municipalities was a loud message that our gun rights are not safe in the hands of any one politician or political party.

The truth is, our gun rights are only safe as long as gun owners like you and me are willing to fight to protect them.

And that means being active in Cheyenne.

It’s not enough for you and me to take these politicians at face value when they come looking for your vote every two or four years.

They need to act!

And that’s why 2018 will be such a pivotal year in our fight for the Second Amendment, because we’re staring down the barrel of the 2018 mid-terms!

Thanks to your relentless pressure last session, we managed to FORCE every member of the legislature on the record for or against repealing gun free zones.

Those legislators who voted against these bills (HB136 and HB137) will have to answer for that at election time.

But next session, as we’ve told you, our focus will be on passage on Stand-Your-Ground law, which simply removes the requirement that you retreat before defending yourself from a lethal threat.

The moderate and flat-out anti-gun legislators that sit in vulnerable districts are already nervous about 2018.

That’s why it’s essential we maintain the forward momentum and force them to deal with Stand-Your-Ground next year.

Even if we’re not able to pass it during the very compressed 2018 session, getting them on the record will be a very important start.

It will remind them that gun owners in Wyoming aren’t playing games and that we expect them to vote to defend Second Amendment freedoms…or else!

The alternative is to sit back and hope for the best…

…hope that our rights remain unmolested and hope that Stand-Your-Ground law passes on its own.

But we all know that won’t happen.

And we all know what WILL happen if we sit back and continue trusting politicians who make big promises at election time — and then do nothing once safely in office.

This is what happened in Colorado.

It’s another Western state where gun owners hoped for the best, only to see Governor Hickenlooper and his allies in the statehouse crush their gun rights in 2013.

If we don’t fight hard, we’ll eventually see a similar outcome here in Wyoming.

I don’t know about you, but I’m determined to do all I can to make sure that doesn’t happen!

Our forefathers fought and died to codify the Second Amendment for us — it’s up to you and me to fight to protect and safeguard these freedoms for the next generation.

There are a couple of ways that you can do that today.

>>>  If you’ve not yet done so, please renew your membership in Wyoming Gun Owners for 2018, at whatever membership level you are able!

>>>  Please also sign your petition to your legislators calling on them to advance Stand-Your-Ground law next session!

The moderates in the legislature, not to mention Gov. Mead, have called us out by killing or vetoing both pro-gun bills earlier this year.

We have a choice to make.

Do we throw up our hands and walk away, or do we get down in the trenches and get ready for a fight?

As a previous supporter of WyGo, I hope that you’ll get down in the trenches alongside of us by taking action today.

The 2018 legislative session will be a crucial one for our Second Amendment freedoms, and for Wyoming as a whole.

Please stand with us!