6-8-406. Legislative findings and declaration of authority.

(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...".