GOP disses UW rules

Old Laramie was the scene of a poor reenactment of the “Gunfight at the OK Corral” last weekend. It was more like “The Pseudo-Standoff at the GOP State Convention.” Like the 1957 movie, it involved outlaws packing heat, challenging the law, and a law enforcement officer not completely willing to enforce it.

Several GOP delegates showed up at the University of Wyoming Conference Center armed to the teeth. They were openly carrying firearms knowing that their UW hosts expressly prohibit weapons on the campus.

In a shameful demonstration of disrespect for the state’s one university, there was a bevy of Republican convention delegates who came to the Party’s party simply to make the University look bad by challenging the school’s common-sense gun regulation.

“No dangerous weapon may be stored or carried in or upon University facilities.” The law further requires that “Any person carrying a dangerous weapon in a University facility is required to relinquish the weapon to the UW Police Department voluntarily or upon request.” That is the language adopted by the Republican controlled UW Board of Trustees. Crystal clear and imminently reasonable. But, there is nothing the gun culture believes to be imminently reasonable if it regulates their beloved guns.

And so, members of the increasingly extreme far right Wyoming Republican Party showed up in Laramie carrying guns. Mike Samp, the University chief of police, decided that under the circumstances, the law wasn’t worth fully enforcing. He cut a deal with the radicals. Chief Samp decided he’d enforce the law only with respect to the first person he challenged. That one would be required to relinquish his gun and receive a citation. Others were allowed to keep their guns and mingle with the crowd at the Conference Center.

Samp figured the rest of those gun-toting Republicans posed no “overt risk.” That bit of politically selective law enforcement may come back to bite UW. Apparently, enforcing the law at a Republican gathering wasn’t worth the political fallout.

Admittedly, it seems impossible to embarrass or shame the Republican Party these days. Donald Trump’s lies and Scott Pruitt’s corruption coupled with the indictments of Trump campaign manage Paul Manafort and National Security Adviser General Michael Flynn haven’t done so. It’s fair to assume a bunch of gun nuts walking around the GOP convention with firearms strapped to their hips in violation of reasonable rules and regulations of their hosts won’t cause anyone to suffer a red face.

So now, the one GOP delegate who received a citation waves it as a banner of pride as he heads off to the Wyoming courts where he fully expects judges to tell the University’ Board that it is a violation of the 2^nd Amendment to prohibit guns on campus. Having practiced law for 25 years, I can attest to the fact that a lot of zealots like this guy get a surprise on their way through the judicial process.

The contrived incident is in line with what the Wyoming Republican Party has let itself become. The Party that was once dominated by rational moderates has given itself over to extremism. Barack Obama was right about these folks when he said they are bitter people who “cling to their guns and Bibles.” Republicans who cannot figure out how to legislate a healthcare plan, properly fund education, or diversify the state’s economy are able to orchestrate a symbolic “Gunfight at the OK Corral.”

The Grand Old Party denies the reality, opting for self-serving drama. Data from the Centers for Disease Control show the state whose politics they dominate at every level ranks fourth highest for gun deaths.

Instead of a rational debate, they squeal that liberals will “take away your guns.” That, of course is untrue but it’s reasonable that a University assures the safety of students and others in a confined environment with a rational rule banning weapons on campus? Apparently, Wyoming’s GOP thinks otherwise.

Instead of banning firearms on the campus, perhaps the University of Wyoming should just ban Republicans.