Constitutional Carry Plainly Explained and Defended
By Richard Church
Wisconsin –-(Ammoland.com)- Concealed carry is coming to Wisconsin.
It is an absolute certainty that before the current legislative session is complete, a concealed carry law will be passed and the governor will sign it.
Such legislation has passed the legislature before, but has always fallen victim to the governor’s veto pen. Not this time around.
But what kind of concealed carry law will we have?
For many, it seems, there is a disconnect between the rights asserted in the First Amendment and rights asserted in the Second. No state requires a permit to exercise the freedom of religion. You do not have to go to the government, prove that you meet the legal requirements, and receive permission to invite a group of friends to your home. You cannot be jailed or fined for exercising your freedom of speech without a permit. As a society, we are fiercely protective of our rights to freedom of religion, speech, press and assembly. However, we are far too quick to make concessions on the right to keep and bear arms.
What Is Constitutional Carry?
In the parlance of the concealed carry debate, laws fall into one of four categories: Constitutional Carry (also called unrestricted or Vermont-style concealed carry), Shall-Issue, May-Issue and No Issue. At present, Wisconsin is a No Issue state — one of only two in the entire nation — where citizens cannot carry concealed weapons. Some gun groups in the state are lobbying hard to move us toward a Shall-Issue concealed carry law. Shall-Issue means that the law will lay out the requirements to obtain a permit and anyone who meets those requirements must be given a permit by the government.
This is admittedly better than a May-Issue law, which gives authorities discretion to refuse to issue a permit even to those who meet the requirements. May-Issue, Shall-Issue and No Issue laws all fail to recognize the right to keep and bear arms as a natural right, a concept that is plainly evident to everyone with respect to First Amendment rights.
Natural Rights At Stake
A quick primer on natural rights is in order. Natural rights come from God, not government. The only legitimate function of government is to recognize and protect the rights of those under its jurisdiction.
For further reading, see the Declaration of Independence. Any requirement to obtain a permit to exercise a right is, at least, an infringement of that right and, at worst, an outright denial of it.
There are currently only three states that recognize and protect their citizens’ right to keep and bear arms: Vermont, Alaska and, most recently, Arizona.(NOTE: Wyoming has also recently joined this list) These states have unrestricted, Constitutional Carry laws which allow law-abiding citizens to fully exercise their Second Amendment right without infringement. Several other states are considering Constitutional Carry laws. Wisconsin has a great opportunity to join these states and end its denial of citizens’ most basic liberties.
For this reason, Wisconsin Campaign for Liberty (www.campaignforliberty.com) is proud to partner with Wisconsin Gun Owners and other groups in the state to lobby our legislators from the grassroots. Together, we are working hard to have a Constitutional Carry bill introduced, passed and signed into law. We encourage you to contact your state representative and senator and let them know how important this issue is to you and why a Shall-Issue law does not go far enough in recognizing the rights of Wisconsinites.
To do so, sign the Campaign for Liberty Online Petition to demand Constitutional Concealed Carry. To sign the petition, visit us online at www.WisconsinC4L.com/CCC.
Richard Church is the Regional Coordinator for Wisconsin Campaign For Liberty.
Campaign For Liberty’s Mission
Our mission is to promote and defend the great American principles of individual liberty, constitutional government, sound money, free markets, and a noninterventionist foreign policy, by means of educational and political activity. Visit: www.campaignforliberty.com