HB0096 changes the minimum age to receive a Wyoming concealed‑firearm permit by amending W.S. 6-8-104(b)(ii), replacing the current 21‑year threshold with 18 years. The bill leaves the core permit framework intact — permits remain five years long, applicants still must carry and produce the permit with identification, and the attorney general retains rulemaking and issuance authority.
The bill also preserves immunity language protecting the attorney general and the Division of Criminal Investigation around permit actions, removes subsection (j) of W.S. 6-8-104 (repeal without text included in this bill), and sets an effective date of July 1, 2026. For agencies, law enforcement and permit applicants, the change shifts eligibility and creates short-term administrative work to implement new forms, rules and training guidance.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill amends W.S. 6-8-104(b)(ii) to lower the minimum age for a concealed‑carry permit from 21 to 18. It retains existing procedural provisions — five‑year permit duration, requirement to carry and display permit plus ID, and the attorney general’s rulemaking authority — and repeals subsection (j).
Who It Affects
Directly affects Wyoming residents aged 18–20 who seek a state concealed‑firearm permit, the Attorney General’s Division of Criminal Investigation (which issues permits), and local law enforcement that distributes applications and processes related information. Firearms instructors and firearms insurers may see secondary effects from changes in applicant volume.
Why It Matters
The statute change meaningfully expands the pool of eligible permit holders and requires administrative changes at the state and local level. It also leaves in place immunity provisions for state actors, so implementation and liability questions will center on operational practice and any remaining statutory gaps created by the repeal of subsection (j).
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What This Bill Actually Does
HB0096 performs a surgical change to Wyoming’s concealed‑carry statute: it lowers the statutory minimum age for a permit from 21 to 18 by amending W.S. 6-8-104(b)(ii). The rest of the permit regime stays in place — the bill does not add new training, safety, or background check requirements beyond those already in statute, nor does it alter the five‑year duration or the requirement that a permittee carry the permit and identification and produce them to a peace officer.
The bill also amends the subsection labeled (aa) of W.S. 6-8-104 to retain language shielding the attorney general and Division of Criminal Investigation employees from personal liability for issuing, failing to issue, or revoking permits, and it clarifies limited non‑liability for sheriffs, police chiefs and their employees for information submitted under certain subsections. Those immunity rules remain central to how state actors will defend administrative decisions tied to expanded eligibility.Section 2 repeals W.S. 6-8-104(j).
The bill text does not reproduce the repealed language, so the practical effect depends on what subsection (j) previously required; agencies will need to cross‑check preexisting statute to identify any regulatory or procedural material now removed. Finally, the act sets an express effective date of July 1, 2026, giving the attorney general and local law enforcement a defined period to adapt application forms, rule text, and internal intake procedures before the change takes effect.Practically, the amendment expands eligibility to a cohort — 18‑ to 20‑year‑olds — who previously could not obtain a state concealed‑carry permit, while keeping the core administrative model intact.
Implementation will be mostly administrative (forms, rules, training) rather than substantive legal reform, but the change shifts enforcement and public‑safety questions onto a younger population of permittees with no additional statutory training or restrictions required by this bill.
The Five Things You Need to Know
Amends W.S. 6-8-104(b)(ii) to change the minimum concealed‑carry permit age from 21 to 18.
Preserves existing permit mechanics: five‑year validity, requirement to carry and present permit plus ID, and attorney general rulemaking/issuance authority.
Retains immunity language protecting the attorney general and Division of Criminal Investigation for issuing, failing to issue, or revoking permits (subsection (aa)).
Repeals W.S. 6-8-104(j) outright — the bill does not reproduce the prior text, so agencies must review the current statute to identify what was removed.
Sets the act’s effective date as July 1, 2026, creating a discrete implementation window for administrative updates.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Lower minimum age and retain immunity language
This provision replaces the numeric age in subsection (b)(ii) — changing the eligibility threshold from 21 to 18 — which expands who the attorney general must consider when issuing a concealed‑firearm permit. Subsection (aa) keeps and rephrases immunity protections for state actors and narrows personal liability for certain local law enforcement employees for information they provide; those protections will shape how officials document and defend permitting decisions.
Removes an existing subsection (content not replicated here)
The bill repeals subsection (j) in its entirety. Because the bill text does not include the removed subsection, implementers must consult the pre‑amendment statute to determine operational impacts. If subsection (j) contained procedural or eligibility constraints, their removal could change application requirements or grounds for denial; if it was obsolete, repeal simply cleans the code.
Sets when the change takes effect
The act becomes effective July 1, 2026. That fixed date gives the Attorney General’s office and local law enforcement a limited transition period to revise application materials, promulgate any necessary rules, and communicate eligibility changes to the public and training providers.
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Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Wyoming residents aged 18–20: gain eligibility to apply for a state concealed‑carry permit for the first time, expanding their legal ability to carry concealed firearms under state law.
- Attorney General’s Division of Criminal Investigation: gains a broader applicant pool and clear statutory direction to issue permits to younger adults, which can centralize permit issuance and clarify statewide standards.
- Firearms instructors and training providers: likely see increased demand for classes and permit‑related training among newly eligible young adults.
- Pro‑gun advocacy organizations: the change advances their objective of broader permit access and provides a statutory precedent for lowering age thresholds in other weapon‑related rules.
Who Bears the Cost
- Attorney General’s office and local law enforcement agencies: face increased administrative workload to update rules, application forms, background check procedures, and public guidance for a larger applicant pool.
- Sheriffs’ offices and police departments: may process more application interactions and public records requests; staff time and training costs to handle younger permittees will increase even though the statute preserves some immunity.
- Insurance carriers and employers: could face actuarial and policy considerations if claims or workplace incidents involve younger permit holders, prompting changes in underwriting or workplace policies.
- State criminal justice and public‑safety agencies: potential downstream costs if monitoring, data collection, or enforcement needs grow as a result of expanded eligibility.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The bill balances two legitimate aims — expanding individual access to concealed‑carry permits for 18‑ to 20‑year‑olds and preserving a simple, statewide permitting system — against the risk that increased eligibility without added procedural or training requirements could strain administration and public‑safety objectives; it favors access and administrative stability over introducing new safety or screening measures specific to younger permittees.
The bill is narrowly focused on eligibility and leaves many operational details unchanged. That surgical approach simplifies legislative drafting but creates implementation friction: agencies must determine whether any procedural language previously in subsection (j) governed application steps, background checks, or disqualifying criteria and, if so, how to fill the gap.
The lack of added training, safety, or enhanced screening requirements means the policy shift increases access without creating new statutory guardrails specific to younger applicants.
Another tension concerns statutory coherence and external legal interactions. Lowering the permit age may create inconsistencies with other state or federal statutes that reference age for different firearm activities; implementers must reconcile cross‑references to avoid conflicting standards.
Finally, while subsection (aa) preserves immunity for state actors, immunity does not eliminate the practical need for robust administrative procedures — without clear procedural guidance, agencies may face litigation over whether they followed required steps, even if individual decision‑makers remain broadly shielded from personal liability.
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