Confrontation Looms
WI Legislature Passes Carry Bill; Veto Imminent
by Dave Workman
Senior Editor
As this issue of Gun Week went to press, the Wisconsin legislature had passed concealed carry legislation with what appeared to be a “veto proof” majority, yet anti-gun Gov. Jim Doyle was poised to veto the measure anyway.
Gun rights activists, including Joe Waldron, executive director of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA), suggested that Doyle is probably hoping he can turn at least one or two Democrats who voted for the bill, same as he did state Rep. Gary Sherman in 2004. Sherman had supported concealed carry legislation, but flip-flopped on the veto vote, telling reporters at the time he did it so Democrats could have some semblance of power in the legislature.
The Personal Protection Act (SB-403) was passed by a 23-10 vote in the Senate in early December, and days later, the Assembly passed it by a 64-32. A Doyle veto would require at least 66 votes in the Assembly to override. Two lawmakers did not vote on the measure, but may between now and the time that an override vote might occur. There is a special election scheduled in one district which could send another pro-gun representative to the Assembly.
Passage of the legislation required adding an amendment offered by Rep. Mary Hubler that requires citizens who get concealed pistol licenses to undergo a refresher training course every five years. It also lowers the blood alcohol content for legal drunkenness to .02 for those licensed to carry. Another tenet of the amendment requires that firearms not be carried within 100 feet of a school grounds or premises. This restriction applies only to motorists outside of their vehicles.
An aide to Republican Sen. Dave Zien, sponsor of the legislation, told Gun Week that if there is a veto override vote, it will show whether Democrats who voted for the measure keep their word to support it on override.
Wisconsin is one of only four states without some sort of concealed carry law, and 38 of those states have “shall-issue” statutes requiring that any law-abiding citizen who applies and clears a background check must be issued a license to carry. Gone from the equation in those states is discretion on the part of a sheriff or police chief, which has led to abuses in the states where such discretion still exists.
Prior to the vote, anti-gunners turned up the volume on rhetoric, and considerable pressure from both supporters and opponents of personal protection was exerted on lawmakers.
To make the measure more palatable to Democrats, amendments were added several days before the final vote that restrict where Wisconsin gunowners would be able to carry. Off-limits would be churches, hospitals, college campuses, clinics, domestic violence shelters and youth sporting events. However, attempts to put the state Capitol off limits failed.
CCRKBA’s Waldron acknowledged that he was not “entirely satisfied” with the amendment that brought Hubler’s vote, with a promise to override a Doyle veto, but he noted that other states initially had such provisions in their concealed carry laws and after time, lawmakers were inclined to amend those laws.
“We know from past experience in other states that after Wisconsin’s statute has been in place for a while, there will be an opportunity to amend the law,” Waldron noted, “after all the hysterical predictions about increased violence and bloodshed are proven to be false, as they invariably are.”
He called the legislation a “good starting point.” The overriding issue was to get a law on the books, so that Wisconsinites can demonstrate that legally armed citizens are responsible with their guns. That kind of track record, he said, has proven anti-gunners consistently wrong with their predictions of increased violence and blood in the streets.
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