Massachusetts Senator’s ‘Paramilitary Bill’ Could Shut Down Wyoming Shooting Sports

Cowboy State Daily ^ | 2/9/24 | Mark Heinz

[CFW]

Wyomingites wanting to just grab a couple of friends and go target shooting could potentially be breaking the law if a federal bill introduced by a Massachusetts senator passes.

The Preventing Private Paramilitary Act of 2024 could potentially be used to ban just about any gun-related activity, Cody firearms instructor Bill Tallen told Cowboy State Daily.

“It would shut down even any three individuals going to the gun range to practice with firearms,” he said.

The bill, U.S. Senate File 3589, was introduced last month by Sen. Edward Markey, D-Massachusetts.

The bill’s stated intent is curb or prevent the formation and activities of armed extremist groups. Numerous loosely organized groups calling themselves “militias” sprang up around the county in the 1990s, and some remain active.

By strict definition, a militia is “maintained and raised by the state, and must answer to the governor,” Tallen said.

So, impromptu groups don’t qualify as actual militias.

Moreover, Wyoming already has a law on the books prohibiting unauthorized paramilitary groups, he said, although nobody has apparently ever been prosecuted under it.

[snip]

Beyond the implications of broadly applied criminal law, the bill could open gun owners up to civil lawsuits, Tallen said. It would allow people to take “civil actions” against those they consider to be armed extremists.

“If anybody observes you doing anything that they could construe as a violation of this act, they could file a civil action against you,” he said. “If you have a shotgun in the gun rack of your truck, they could file a civil suit against you. And no matter how that turned out, it could still end up costing you thousands of dollars.”

[Big Red Badger]

Thanks!
.
God Bless TEXAS!

[NorthMountain]

Congress shall make no law respecting ... the right of the people peaceably to assemble.

The right of the people to keep AND BEAR arms shall not be infringed.

[doorgunner69]

The irony is this clown’s bill is why the 2A and militia exist.

[Chode]

pretty sure any self respecting “militia” will have their own range on private property...

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Our company had an isolated gravel pit we used to go to to shoot. Had great fun trying out all sorts of rifles that would make a Yankee Politician lose bladder control!
Jokingly some began to call us “Ruy’s Raiders”.

Then one day the FBI caught a radical near here wanted for murder in another state. That night the news media was crowing about it and how they were also looking for another named Ruy Raider! Talk about the hackles going up on the back of your neck!
I suddenly realized the government had ears were everywhere!
Ruy’s Raiders went extinct that moment!

I wonder if they ever noticed I bought a King James Bible about that time....

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Writer Charlie Reese had a good take on the 2nd years ago.

“’A well educated elite, being necessary for the security of a free state, the right of the people to become educated’ does not mean that only the elite have the right be educated!”

[muir_redwoods]

Of course my hunter safety course is just a well intentioned group of guys who get together to make sure we know best how to track game, avoid detection and hit our target every time.

[Elsie]

But unlike Wyoming’s law, Markey’s bill is vague and wide open to abuse, he said.

For example, it would prohibit any group to “publicly patrol, drill or engage in techniques capable of causing bodily injury or death.”

“That could apply to pressing the trigger on any firearm ever invented,” Tallen said.

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I carry equipment on my body that is 'capable' of rape. Should I worry?

[This I Wonder32460]

There is a Wyoming, Massachusetts, it’s part of the city of Melrose, Massachusetts. I can’t see how the Commonwealth of Massachusetts could make laws that affect the state of Wyoming. A few years ago, I was surprised to learn there were places named Wyoming before there was a state named Wyoming. That being a borough in Pennsylvania is named Wyoming. And just a week or two ago, I was researching some genealogy and discovered there is a place named Wyoming, Massachusetts.