After the stark and recent evidence from New Orleans of what too many LEOs will do to law-abiding citizens in a crisis situation, anyone who says this is either a fool or a liar. Or both.
Posted on 03/08/2008 5:53:26 AM PST by SLB
CHEYENNE -- Gov. Dave Freudenthal on Friday signed into law a bill that prohibits government officials from confiscating guns from law-abiding citizens.
Sponsor Allen Jaggi, R-Lyman, has said House Bill 57 was prompted by the confiscation of guns by police in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.
Freudenthal said afterward that he was pleased to sign the bill, although he didn't think it addressed any real problem.
But Freudenthal, an avid hunter who was endorsed by the National Rifle Association in his re-election campaign in 2006, said he can understand why supporters want the bill enacted here.
"It's not understandable on the basis that anybody around here is going to be confiscating anybody's firearms, because first of all we ain't going to allow anybody to do it," Freudenthal said.
Freudenthal said he intends to scrutinize a separate self-defense bill, HB 137, that has cleared the Legislature and is awaiting his action.
The so-called "castle doctrine" bill would specify that citizens are legally entitled to assume that any people who break into their homes mean to do them harm. It would also give people who kill others in self-defense immunity from lawsuits.
Supporters say the bill would offer citizens legal protection if they use deadly force against intruders. They say the bill is named after the English common-law concept that a man's home is his castle, and that he's not obligated to try to retreat before using deadly force to defend it.
The NRA has made passing such "castle doctrine" legislation a priority nationwide.
Freudenthal said he has asked Attorney General Bruce Salzburg to review the "castle doctrine" bill.
"It's so nuanced, depending on where the words are, and how it's structured and what it says, it may or may not have a problem," Freudenthal said.
Critics of the "castle doctrine" proposal include prosecutors who say that enacting it in Wyoming could have unintended consequences. They have said the state has a strong body of case law on self-defense that protects citizens' rights. They have said that codifying it could result in weakening the law.
Freudenthal said he's not surprised to see the NRA push such gun legislation in Wyoming.
"This is a pro-gun environment; we like firearms," Freudenthal said. "So it's not surprising that they would come to these kind of states to push that kind of agenda early. My guess is that it's a lot more responsive here than it would be in California. But in terms of, 'Are there real problems that have to be addressed?' Probably not."
Freudenthal is a democrat. Does it show?
Ping
The Second Amendment was not written FOR hunters, but hunters probably played a part in its ratification. Hamilton and Washington said the Bill of Rights could be dangerous down the line. How right the federal judiciary has proved those two once again.
WY has elected Democrats for governor longer since statehood than it has Republicans. So have many states. The state could be ripe for Obamamania, but I think WY will be spared that aberration.
Except for Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy.
Misleading title, “Governor signs gun NON-confiscation bill” would be closer to the truth.
They're not there to cook me breakfast?
All anti-gun legislation has been a dismal failure.
Because citizens cannot defend themselves, thousands of lives have been lost. It’s about time our elected officials recognized this fact and corrected the problem.
Three cheers for Gov. Dave Freudenthal
Are you discriminating against the Great Pumpkin?
Wyoming Democrats are typically more conservative than a large portion of the GOP. It may be one of the few places where Democrat does not equal Socialist.
I don't think fruits or vegetables count.
After the stark and recent evidence from New Orleans of what too many LEOs will do to law-abiding citizens in a crisis situation, anyone who says this is either a fool or a liar. Or both.
Geeez, I thought the governor had signed a bill to confiscate guns!
The dhimmiRat’s version of a RINO? A DINO, maybe?
Either way...good on him for this one. It’s the right thing to do.
I'll go with an elitist fool playing finger-to-the-wind politics in order to keep his job and political capital, slipping up and saying what he REALLY thinks about the gun-ban vs. Second Amendment debate.
catchy title; it implies the opposite of the story and sure got my attention.
He's a Democrat.
“...enacting it in Wyoming could have unintended consequences...”
Does the speaker have the courage to provide examples?
Since none of them pass the laugh test, likely not.
“Governor signs gun confiscation bill”
That headline is really deceptive. Better might be:
“Liberal Voting Bloc Threatened”
Shows quite clearly. Pandering to the party and ignorance of the issue in the single quote. If she signs it, Wyoming will be the 27th or 28th state to pass such a castle doctrine law, nowhere near the first. Ditto on the law she just signed.
In any case, good news on the non-confinscation law.
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