§ 6-8-406 — Legislative findings and declaration of authority

Wyoming § 6-8-406

• Jurisdiction: Wyoming
• Title 06: Crimes and Offenses
• Ch. 8: WEAPONS
• Art. 4: REGULATION BY STATE

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(a) The legislature declares that the authority for W.S.
6-8-402 through 6-8-406 is the following:
(i) The tenth amendment to the United States
constitution guarantees to the states and their people all
powers not granted to the federal government elsewhere in the
constitution and reserves to the state and the people of Wyoming
certain powers as they were understood at the time that Wyoming
was admitted to statehood in 1890. The guaranty of those powers
is a matter of contract between the state and people of Wyoming
and the several states comprising the United States as of the
time the Act of Admission was agreed upon and adopted by Wyoming
and the several states comprising the United States in 1889;
(ii) The ninth amendment to the United States
constitution guarantees to the people rights not granted in the
constitution and reserves to the people of Wyoming certain
rights, as they were understood at the time Wyoming was admitted
to statehood in 1890. The guaranty of those rights is a matter
of contract between the state and people of Wyoming and the
several states comprising the United States as of the time the
Act of Admission was agreed upon and adopted by Wyoming and the
United States in 1889;
(iii) The regulation of intrastate commerce is vested
in the states under the ninth and tenth amendments to the United
States constitution, particularly if not expressly preempted by
federal law pursuant to article 1, section 8 of the United
States constitution. The United States congress has not
expressly preempted state regulation of intrastate commerce
pertaining to the manufacture on an intrastate basis of
firearms, firearms accessories and ammunition;
(iv) The second amendment to the United States
constitution reserves to the people the right to keep and bear
arms as that right was understood at the time the original
states ratified the bill of rights to the United States
constitution, and the guaranty of the right is a matter of
contract between the state and people of Wyoming and the United
States as of the time the Act of Admission was agreed upon and
adopted by Wyoming and the United States in 1889;
(v) Article 1, section 24, of the Wyoming
constitution secures the right of citizens the right to keep and
bear arms and this right shall not be denied. This right
predates the United States constitution and the Wyoming
constitution and is unchanged from the 1890 Wyoming
constitution, which was approved by congress and the people of
Wyoming, and the right exists, as it was agreed upon and adopted
by Wyoming and the United States in the Act of Admission;
(vi) Article 1, section 1, of the Wyoming
constitution provides that all power is inherent in the people,
and all free governments are founded on their authority, and
instituted for their peace, safety and happiness; for all the
advancement of these ends they have at all times an inalienable
and indefeasible right to alter, reform or abolish the
government in such manner as they may think proper;
(vii) Article 1, section 7, of the Wyoming
constitution provides that absolute, arbitrary power over the
lives, liberty and property of freemen exists nowhere in a
republic, not even in the largest majority;
(viii) Article 1, sections 1 and 7, of the Wyoming
constitution clearly provide that the people of the state have
the sole and exclusive right of governing themselves as a free,
sovereign and independent state, and do so and forever hereafter
shall exercise and enjoy every power, jurisdiction and right,
pertaining thereto, which is not, or may not hereafter be, by
them expressly delegated to the United States of America;
(ix) The declaration of independence clearly provides
that government derives its power directly from the consent of
the governed and Wyoming affirms the language of the second
paragraph of the declaration of independence which states "We
hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by the Creator with certain
inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the
pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments
are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the
consent of the governed...".