By: Anthony Morelli
Not every Republican is on board with protecting the freedoms of gun owners.
Some even find themselves agreeing with the gun control lobby.
And one anti-gun Republican found himself whining as a gun control bill was repealed.
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon is one of the most liberal Republican governors in America, on issues ranging from guns to abortion and beyond.
Despite the fact that Wyoming is one of the most Republican states in the country, and has an overwhelmingly Republican legislature, Gordon has frequently been at odds with conservatives.
In fact, there are Democrat governors who have served in other states who are more conservative on the issues than Gordon is.
When Wyoming legislators passed a bill to get rid of “gun-free zones” in their state, one would have assumed that it would become law without much fuss.
But instead, Gordon went crazy on them, writing a nasty letter about how upset he was that the Wyoming legislature sent him this bill.
Ultimately, he refused to sign it, although it did become law by default, as Gordon apparently didn’t want to face the political consequences for vetoing it.
According to The Truth About Guns, “While legislators in many states continue to introduce measures that will further infringe on the rights of their citizenry, other states, like Wyoming, continue to move more to the freedom end of the scale.”
“In a harsh letter concerning the bill, Gov. Gordon attacked proponents of the bill for not seeing things his way.”
Gordon didn’t even choose to respectfully disagree with his own party. Instead, he attacked them head-on.
His letter showed a great deal of anger and frustration, perhaps at the fact that the party has gotten too conservative for his liking.
Here is part of what his letter said: “You will remember, I vetoed a remarkably similar bill at the end of the 2024 Budget Session, House Enrolled Act No. 49/House Bill 0125 Repeal gun-free zones and preemption amendments. In my veto message, I noted my major concerns with the disregard shown to local jurisdictions and the infringement of our state Constitution’s intrinsic separation of powers. Importantly, my message also included a call to action for school districts and colleges around the state to review their gun-free zone policies while my administration pursued reviewing the State’s. Reflecting this legislature’s lackadaisical effort to openly debate and work on this legislation before sending it to my desk, it is tempting to copy and return my same veto letter.”
Gordon is free to have whatever views he wants, but he should have told voters when he first ran that he was going to be a liberal Republican.
Voters should be able to know what they are signing up for and running as a conservative but then governing as a center-left liberal is not in line with what Wyoming voters generally support.
Certainly when it comes to guns, Gordon seems to be seriously out of step with what the voters of his state want, and perhaps that’s why he ultimately didn’t veto the bill this time, despite his complaints.