The Wyoming State Shooting Complex Joint Powers Board and new CEO Patrick Giles seem to have kicked into another gear to start the new year. A much improved website is well on the way. An overall design has been decided upon after painstaking efforts to provide the best fits for each of the many disciplines to be offered — from long range shooting to sporting clays — and Giles and board members will be leveraging the annual SHOT Show convention to speak with many potential donors and sponsors.

This all bodes well for a future successful complex in the hills south of Cody, but the latter effort is doubly important as the Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee is looking mostly at all of the efforts to cut government spending. Therefore, efforts by Sen. Dan Laursen, R-Powell, and other area legislators to get more of the money initially promised could be tougher this year with the current cutting climate.

Gov. Mark Gordon has long been a proponent of the state shooting complex. But with all of the cuts being proposed in the JAC’s latest proposals, he’s not as enthusiastic about the complex getting much more money if it’s instead of other crucial programs.

Gordon said as much when I asked him about complex funding during his annual appearance to talk to Wyoming journalists at the Wyoming Press Convention’s annual convention in Casper.

While the decision isn’t up to him, he maintains influence over state legislators and it’s worth noting his concerns.

“First off, I supported the shooting complex to start with. I think it's great. And, you know, I've learned a long time in my life that it's nice to have-need to have, and I think there's a balance there that should be going forward,” he said. “So I'm not really excited about a lot more money going to the state shooting complex, especially when one of the decisions we're making is we're not going to do summer EBT, we're not going to do SNAP.

“We're not, you know, we're not going to feed our kids, but we're happy to be able to have a bigger, fancier, more expensive shooting complex. Those are priorities I think we need to get a little bit straighter. I hope all our kids learn how to shoot. That's a big thing for us, but at the same time, I hope they can also eat, and I think that's really key.”

Now I agree with the shooting complex joint powers board about the importance of having a world class complex. Wyoming is a Second Amendment state and should have a world class state shooting complex. But if the Legislature is fixated on cuts during this budget session, it could be a tough haul for even an experienced legislator like Laursen and his supporters in both houses to eke out $5 million more — or even just the $3.5 million more initially approved during the last session’s supplemental budget that was later scrapped.

With more state funding still a question, it makes local donations vitally important for the long-term success of the complex. Visit shootwyoming.com to learn more about the project and donate.