The “Stand Your Ground” bill, which protects people from prosecution after using lethal force in order to protect themselves, other individuals, or their property, is in the process of being amended and will now no longer do so.
The “Stand Your Ground” bill, introduced by State Senator Anthony Bouchard, R-Cheyenne, stipulated that a person using lethal force to defend themselves does not need to attempt retreat from the conflict before exercising lethal force. The bill is almost identical to Wyoming’s “Castle Law” that was passed into law 10 years ago, excluding the “retreat” stipulation.
“I own guns, shoot for sport, hunt and have grown up learning about guns since I was about 6 years old,” UW Senior Rangeland Ecology and Watershed Management major Caleb Gray said. “I’m glad to say I’ve never felt like I was in mortal danger or in any position where there was a need for lethal force. I agree with the idea of these bills, but I thought the Castle Law means you have to be inside and I didn’t know about the requirement to retreat if able.”
Wyoming has the “Castle Law”, which is commonly misunderstood as only permitting lethal defensive inside one’s “castle” or home. The Wyoming House Bill 0137 “Castle Doctrine”, requires retreat, something only Wyoming requires when being compared to other states in the west.
Advocates for the Stand Your Ground bill’s lack of required retreat say that when faced with life-threatening decisions, one rarely has time to check for exits and that momentary survival is just that, in the moment.
“I think people look at using guns and owning guns differently if you’ve been learning how to use them since you were four or five years old and it’s something you hope you’ll never have to use in self-defense,” UW Sophomore and Animal Science major Jake Logar said. “I like the idea that you don’t have to retreat because a lot of the time you wouldn’t have time to react like that if other people were in serious danger.”
On Tuesday, Wyoming Senator Drew Perkins, R-Casper, introduced an amendment to eliminate the need to retreat and in place of it, add, “defining a reasonable threat”. This would still allow authorities to investigate any person who does not reasonably retreat before lethal force is used.
“The University of Wyoming does not have an official position on the “Stand Your Ground” bill,” UW Director of Institutional Communications Chad Baldwin said. “The way we would interpret both the proposed legislation and the “Castle Doctrine” on campus are that both would apply, but university regulation generally prohibits possession of firearms on campus. State statute also prohibits possession of concealed weapons on campus without proper approval, so this would limit options for people to react to a situation using either law. If someone were in violation of the concealed-carry law or violating university regulation, it would likely increase the chances for being held criminally responsible for an act, as well as increasing potential civil liability for that act.”
On Wednesday, the Wyoming Senate altered the bill by removing immunity for those using lethal defense. Both a House and Senate version will go before a vote Thursday or Friday.
