Wyoming House advances bill to expand concealed carry and gun rights

The Wyoming House moved a package of bills meant to expand concealed carry and other gun rights during the 2026 budget session in Cheyenne, advancing measures that supporters say would ease limits for younger adults and roll back some restrictions. Haroldson’s measures and three related gun bills cleared the two-thirds approval threshold required to introduce legislation during budget years, a procedural hurdle the House “easily cleared,” signaling a possible wider push on Second Amendment issues.

The debate highlighted a rhetorical contrast repeated on the floor: “An 18-year-old from Wyoming can ‘go and fight and die for their country.’ Yet they can’t get a concealed carry permit, at least not without navigating extra hurdles.” Under current Wyoming practice, someone between 18 and 21 years old can obtain a concealed carry permit only if the sheriff of their county of residence writes a letter of recommendation to the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation.

HB 172 was specifically referenced in a letter from Gordon to House Speaker Rep. Chip Neiman, R-Hulett, with Gordon writing that “Gun free zones are not repealed - they are now determined exclusively by the legislature.” The available material does not include the full text of HB 172 or the complete letter, and floor sponsors for the concealed-carry elements were identified only by last name in public reporting to date.

Haroldson also introduced or sponsored measures tied to Wyoming’s 2024 red flag statute. Reporting from the session says Haroldson “brought another bill that adds teeth to Wyoming’s ‘Prohibit Red Flag Gun Seizure Act,’” and that Gordon signed the original act into law in 2024, a move described as making Wyoming among the first states in the nation to ban red flag gun laws, with some exceptions. The record provided does not list the red flag bill number or the precise amendments Haroldson seeks.

Visuals from the 2026 budget session show Wyoming Gun Owners Director Aaron Dorr watching lawmakers from the House gallery in Cheyenne and capture Rep. Art Washut, R-Casper, working the session floor. One fragment of reporting notes that the 2026 budget session is “the first time lawmakers and others are allowed to bring concealed firearms into the Wyoming Capitol while the” with the remainder of that sentence missing from the available material.

National policy group Everytown offered context about federal implications, arguing that “it remains constitutional to require a permit to carry a concealed and loaded gun in public” and warning that a federal concealed-carry mandate could force states to accept out-of-state permit standards and allow people with dangerous histories to carry in states that would not otherwise permit them.

Key specifics remain unconfirmed in public records released so far: Haroldson’s full name, party and district; the full texts and numbers for all bills in the package; exact roll-call vote tallies for the two-thirds threshold actions; the full text and date of Gordon’s letter to Speaker Neiman; and the complete policy change on bringing concealed firearms into the Capitol. Legislative records and sponsor statements are needed to finalize those details.