Lincoln County School District #2 Superintendent Matt Erickson and Lincoln County Sheriff Shane Johnson both stepped into the SVI Radio studio ahead of the start of the 2025-26 school year to discuss the details of the new law in Wyoming that allows for conceal carry on school grounds and how the school district is proceeding.

In addition, below the audio interview is a Public Notice released by LCSD#2 on Tuesday, August 19 regarding conceal carry on school property.

LCSD#2 PUBLIC NOTICE
Firearms on School Property

In accordance with Wyoming and federal law, only individuals with a valid Wyoming-issued concealed firearm permit may carry a concealed firearm on K–12 school property.

Permitless carry and out-of-state permits do not authorize firearms on school district property. Open carry is not permitted on any school district property. All others are prohibited from
possessing firearms on school district property under state and federal law.

All firearms on campus pursuant to Wyoming Laws must remain fully concealed and securely retained at all times. This applies year-round, including athletic events and other activities held
on school property, whether during or outside of regular school hours.

If a firearm is visible, school administration will respond to ensure lawful concealment and safety. Law enforcement may be contacted depending on the nature of the situation.

Any unattended firearm found on school property will be immediately turned over to law enforcement.

Thank you for helping us maintain a safe and respectful learning environment.

(0:00) Weekday wake up on SVI Radio Swift 98 and the Spur and the start of the new school year is coming up (0:06) and upon us very very soon. So in studio is LCSD 2 superintendent Matt Erickson today and also (0:12) Lincoln County Sheriff Shane Johnson today and a couple of changes heading into the school year (0:16) with recent legislation and laws that have been passed specific to carrying guns in the gun-free (0:20) zone and the repeal of gun-free zones across the state. So superintendent we’ll start with you of (0:26) course this was something you guys were watching at the school level for quite some time passed (0:30) signed maybe just remind our listeners what this is and what it means for district two.
(0:36) Thank you Duke it’s good to be with you and appreciate Sheriff Johnson. We’ve had multiple (0:42) meetings over the last month or so. So as Duke as you mentioned concealed carry and repealing of (0:51) gun-free zones in all school district properties in the state of Wyoming became law on July 1st.
(0:58) So what does that mean for Lincoln too and students and families and stakeholders within (1:04) our boundaries. So as I mentioned effective July 1 anybody with a valid Wyoming concealed carry (1:11) permit is permitted to carry on any school grounds to include school buses events during school (1:19) hours outside of school hours. And the district’s approach working with Sheriff Johnson and his (1:24) department our SRO school resource officer and then obviously our school board at this time (1:31) the school district just chose not to adopt any rules or a policy around concealed carry.
(1:38) So with the law going into effect again anybody that chooses to take on that responsibility and (1:47) can conceal carry starting July 1 again. So what does that law mean to us and what are our (1:55) objectives as a school district. First we want to ensure that obviously we’re going to be compliant (2:00) with Wyoming and federal law and then the second thing with this new law we’re going to try to (2:08) educate and just make families and students and stakeholders aware and then we want to communicate (2:15) clear expectations.
So with that we’re going to be providing in the next day or two a public notice (2:23) just to make sure that people are aware in case a kid sees a student sees a weapon or (2:31) somebody that’s maybe sloppily concealed carrying we’ll let Sheriff Johnson address that here in a (2:45) concealed carrying so how to how to handle that. So again we as a school district will ensure that (2:53) we’re in compliance with the concealed carry law and the repealing of gun-free zones. (2:59) So in all of our K-12 facilities to include the district office.
Now this this legislation or this (3:06) law gave districts a little flexibility on what kind of training they may provide to teachers (3:12) and staff and that may vary I think it’s worth noticing that that may vary from district to (3:17) district right and so your district’s policies could be very different from a different one. (3:22) So that’s a that’s a great point Duke. Like I mentioned earlier at this point (3:27) the school board and administration for LCSD2 has chose not to adopt any rules or policies (3:33) around this.
So we will not be training we were just going to educate first just make sure (3:40) everybody’s aware of this and then communicate our clear expectations and how we’re going to (3:47) respond to potential situations. So again we we’re not providing as a school district at this time (3:54) any training or have we adopted a policy or any rules around this. LCSD2 superintendent Matt Erickson (4:00) in studio also Lincoln County Sheriff Shane Johnson in studio.
Sheriff of course you have a resource (4:05) officer within your department that’s partnered with the school district and and from a law (4:10) enforcement perspective what does this law mean for you guys and and what would you like the (4:14) community to be aware of? Well I think just to to dovetail into what superintendent Erickson said we (4:22) this is this is something new so education is a big part of it. We’ve kind of operated on the guns (4:29) don’t belong in schools for most of our lives and then now we have a law that says you can carry a (4:36) gun in school under certain conditions which is if it’s concealed and you have a Wyoming permit (4:42) and you’re not a student. So I guess you know what it means for the sheriff’s office is we (4:50) we have a bit of an expectation that we’re going to get some calls at times if somebody’s (4:58) choosing to carry concealed but not doing a very good job of it which happens and somebody sees the (5:03) firearm we kind of got to work through that how we’re going to respond to that.
At the end of the (5:10) day and I think the the people that came up with this law and supported this law felt like it would (5:19) make the schools safer and so along with that I think part of how we can make it safer is be (5:28) the people that choose to do it doing a good job of concealed carry you know have a good holster (5:32) that’s secure so it doesn’t accidentally fall out when you’re in the hallway or in your the stands (5:38) cheering on your son or daughter and you get excited and jump up and down all of a sudden (5:44) we got a gun in the bleachers and that’s not a good thing and it’s no longer concealed it no (5:48) longer falls within the law and it could be alarming to people sitting around you so (5:53) I would just encourage you know have a gun that you’re familiar with and that that you’re (6:00) comfortable using have a good holster the reality with a lot of people know in concealed carry it (6:07) you know you got to wear clothes that will conceal your weapon so there’s actually a little thought (6:13) for usually the male percentage of the population that doesn’t put a lot of thought into the where (6:18) if you’re going to what they what they wear if you’re going to carry concealed you need to put (6:22) a little more thought and make sure that firearms concealed so um along with what you know superintendent (6:32) eric said the education part of it is is real important and and it may be alarming to some people (6:37) at some point if they’re there and they actually see somebody what they think is a gun in their (6:42) waistband that’s that’s allowed to happen now so as everybody kind of learns that and (6:49) and comes to the reality of what the law is now we expect to have a some phone calls and to be able to (6:55) handle that appropriately and and work with the school district to educate the public and the (7:01) and the and the parents that may choose to carry i want to want to make sure you clarify this too (7:08) sheriff wyoming’s an open carry state we’re talking concealed carry here on these properties just (7:14) just clarify that because a lot of us grew up in the generation of having the rifle in the back (7:18) window of the pickup truck right and so let’s uh maybe clarify that a little if you would yeah so (7:23) the the law is still in place that you’re not allowed to take a gun to school except now that (7:29) if you meet the qualifications if you have a permit and you carry it concealed that you are (7:34) so um open carry not allowed having a gun on school grounds not allowed and you know anybody (7:42) who’s been through a concealed carry carry class has been taught and knows that you’re really an (7:49) asset to a threat if you were if you’re a good concealed carry guy if a person if you’re a good (7:56) concealed carry man or woman and that you have that uh resource available to you and nobody else (8:03) knows that you have it that’s when it’s it’s most valuable so that’s why i say you know be a good (8:08) concealed carry person and and think about what you’re doing get a good holster conceal it well (8:14) nobody should know that you have it and that’s when you really become an asset to a threat (8:18) superintendent matt erickson anything you’d like to add here at the end so very much appreciate the (8:23) time again um very much appreciate sheriff johnson the working relationship that we have with him and (8:29) his department sheriff johnson pointed out that this law does not affect students (8:39) students are still not allowed to to get a concealed carry permit for school grounds so (8:45) again just to summarize from the school district’s perspective and in conjunction with the the (8:52) sheriff’s department we’re going to ensure that we’re compliant with wyoming federal law and then (8:56) we hope to educate first and communicate clear expectations and and our parents and the students (9:02) and stakeholders can be expecting a public notice it’ll be on our websites and and we’ll share it (9:09) with you duke and and get it out there in the next day or two before students start on thursday (9:13) excellent excellent sheriff anything you want to add here yeah i did i would just say i commend (9:18) the school district for being proactive and they’ve reached out a long time ago about this (9:22) and how how we’re going to handle it let’s get on the same page and and so they’ve they’ve done a (9:28) good job of preparing for this and law enforcement’s prepared for it so again we expect to (9:35) the that maybe we’ll have some uh education still to go with if somebody sees something we (9:41) there and we get a call but we’re prepared to handle that so lincoln county sheriff shane (9:47) johnson lcsd2 superintendent matt erickson it’s the weekday wake up on svi radio