CHEYENNE - Wyoming could both ease legal restrictions on the use of deadly force and allow more citizens to carry concealed weapons under measures some lawmakers are pushing in the coming legislative session.

Reps. Stephen Watt, R-Rock Springs, and Mick Powers, R-Lyman, are sponsoring a measure that would put Wyoming in the ranks of "no-retreat" states.

In addition to specifying that Wyoming citizens have no duty to try to escape before using deadly force against assailants, their bill would specify that a person has a right to assume that anyone breaking into his home poses a deadly threat in most instances.

"It expands when you can use deadly force," Watt said of his bill. He said he's sponsoring the measure because he believes people have a fundamental right to protect themselves.

"Right now, it's very subjective to a county attorney's whims," Watt said of state law on self defense.

Eric Johnson, assistant professor at the University of Wyoming College of Law, also serves as faculty director of the university's prosecution assistance program - a clinic where law students provide assistance to prosecutors - and he sees problems with the "no retreat" proposal.

"It's not that I want people to have to walk away with their tails between their legs," Johnson said. "It's a concern that this could be misused by people who are clearly culpable, to create reasonable doubt in a case in which they're clearly at fault."

Mike Krampner, a Casper criminal defense lawyer, said it's established fact that most break-ins are committed by people intent only on stealing property.

"There is a respectable school of thought that the human life, no matter how depraved, is worth more than any amount of property, and that we ought not to encourage summary execution for attempted theft," Krampner said.

Andrew Arulanandam, director of public affairs for the National Rifle Association in Fairfax, Va., said Wednesday that a number of states are considering "no retreat" legislation this year. The NRA scored a major victory over gun-control forces early this year when Florida Gov. Jeb Bush signed a "no retreat" bill into law in that state.

"The reasoning behind this law is just because someone is outside their home, in a public place, doesn't mean they're immune from crime," Arulanandam said. "Arguably, individuals are more susceptible to crime when they're outside their home."

On the concealed carry issue, Rep. Becket Hinckley, R-Cheyenne, says he plans to sponsor a measure in the coming session that would allow citizens to carry concealed handguns without going through the current state application process.

The state currently limits concealed carry licenses to those who go through an application process intended to screen out felons and others barred from owning guns.

Hinckley, himself a prosecuting attorney, said his bill wouldn't do away with the current permit system for people who want valid state permits that would allow them to carry guns in other states.

Hinckley sponsored a similar measure in the legislative session early this year, but it failed to pass after attracting opposition from police organizations and some prosecutors.

Byron Oedekoven, executive director of the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police, said Wednesday he hadn't seen Hinckley's new proposal. While Oedekoven emphasized his group isn't opposed to citizens' right to bear arms, he said it was concerned that Hinckley's proposal in the last session lacked safeguards.

Oedekoven said Hinckley's first proposal essentially allowed citizens to certify themselves that they were law-abiding and legal to carry firearms. "There was no penalty to lying to yourself," Oedekoven said.