Federal law establishes a baseline national standard regarding individuals’ eligibility to acquire and possess firearms. Under federal law, people are generally prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms if they have been convicted of a felony or some domestic violence misdemeanors, or if they are subject to certain court orders related to domestic violence or a serious mental condition. However, federal law merely provides a floor, and has notable gaps that allow individuals who have demonstrated significant risk factors for violence or self-harm to legally acquire and possess guns.

Wyoming prohibits the use or knowing possession of a firearm by any person who has previously pled guilty to or been convicted of committing or attempting to commit a felony.¹ People convicted of non-violent felonies, as defined, are eligible to have their gun rights restored after 5 years under state law.²

In 2010, Wyoming enacted a Firearms Freedom Act, purporting to exempt from federal regulation any firearm manufactured commercially or privately in Wyoming and that remains exclusively within the borders of Wyoming.³

That law also prohibits possession of such a firearm by a person who:

• Has been convicted of any felony in any state, territory or other jurisdiction of the United States;
• Is currently adjudicated to be legally incompetent; or
• Has been committed to a mental institution.⁴

The law also states that, to purchase such a firearm, a person must not fall within any of these categories and must comply with certain age restrictions.⁵

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1. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-8-102; 6-10-106.[↩]
2. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-13-105(f).[↩]
3. 2010 Wy. ALS 108. Note, however, that the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to uphold a similar law enacted by the State of Montana. Mont. Shooting Sports Ass’n v. Holder, 727 F.3d 975, 982-83 (9th Cir. 2013), petition for cert. denied by Mont. Shooting Sports Ass’n v. Holder, 187 L. Ed. 2d 786, (2014)  and by Mont. v. Holder, 2014 U.S. LEXIS 1525 (2014).[↩]
4. Wyo. Stat. § 6-8-404.[↩]
5. Wyo. Stat. § 6-8-404.[↩]