Constitutional Carry & Gun Free School Zones – Wisconsin’s Dirty Little Secret
Wisconsin –-(Ammoland.com)- Wisconsin Carry was founded as a non-profit all-volunteer corporation because we wanted no conflict of interest and no ulterior motives other than freedom for Wisconsin residents to carry legally in the manner of their choosing (open or concealed) .
I have 2 pieces of important information to share today with regard to lip-service and dirty little secrets here in Wisconsin:
First, the dirty little secret:
I am a proud member of a national gun rights association as well. Many of you may be also. Yesterday I received an email from this association which analyzed the 3 bills that have just been introduced in Wisconsin (the constitutional carry bill LRB 2007) and the “shall-issue permit” bills (LRB 2027 (senate version) and LRB 2033 (assembly version). This email contained some incomplete information which I would like to clarify with readers.
In this email the group suggests that the shall-issue permit bill offers “some additional benefits”. That is partially true, but it also offers some substantial drawbacks. In addition to the shall-issue permit bills requiring government registration, permit taxes, etc, it does NOT address the Federal Gun Free School Zone law when you carry in other states with a Wisconsin permit.
If Wisconsin institutes a shall-issue permit system, your WISCONSIN CONCEALED CARRY PERMIT WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO CARRY IN THE GFSZ’s in other states.
To restate: A concealed carry permit from Wisconsin DOES NOT protect you from the Federal Gun Free School Zone Law in Michigan, Florida, Minnesota, or ANY OTHER STATE that would honor reciprocity with Wisconsin’s permit.
See this letter from the BATF to verify: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/74/Batfe2002letter_gfsza1995_ccw.pdf
Correspondingly, IF YOU HAVE A UTAH OR FLORIDA non-resident permit already, YOU ARE NOT exempted from the Federal Federal Gun Free School Zone law when you use that permit in ANY other state besides the state it was issued.
YOU ARE COMMITTING A FELONY when you carry in a school zone in other states with a reciprocity permit.
A handful of members email me every time I talk about constitutional carry because they want to be able to carry in Michigan and Michigan ONLY recognizes permits from your HOME STATE. Its important that you know that a permit from your HOME STATE does not protect you from being charged with a FEDERAL FELONY if you carry in a school zone in another state.
This is the dirty little secret that those who are pushing for shall-issue permits don’t want you to know.
The only way to address this is for states to include language in a CONSTITUTIONAL CARRY bill that codifies that anyone who meets the requirements to own/possess a firearm is “duly licensed and permitted” to carry concealed in that state.
SECOND: The Lip Service:
I received this email today regarding the constitutional carry bills. See below: (note, this is cut and pasted from an email I received:)
(begin quote)
My friends, I have been on the phone on and off all day, learning about what is really going on with Constitutional Carry here in the state of Wisconsin. What I’ve learned demonstrates once again that we are dealing with feckless, untrustworthy, Republican establishment leadership who have no interest whatsoever in our constitutional rights. They are playing games, and you need to know it straight up.As you may be aware, three concealed carry bills were introduced at the State Capitol yesterday.
The respective authors of those bills are:
- Senator Pam Galloway (R, Senate Dist. 29), Constitutional Carry bill, LRB-11-2007
- Senator Van Wanggaard (R, Senate Dist. 21), “Shall-Issue” bill
- Representative Jeffrey Mursau (R, Assembly Dist. 36), “Shall-Issue” bill
[I’m still trying to sort out which LRB number belongs to the other Senate bill and which to the Assembly version, but those numbers are LRB-11-2027 and LRB-11-2033.]
Again, Senator Galloway’s bill is the ONLY one that achieves Constitutional Carry—the right of law-abiding citizens to carry a firearm in Wisconsin, open or concealed, WITHOUT A PERMIT OF ANY KIND.
Be aware that Rep. Mursau is a liar and a manipulator of the first order. He’s so much as pretended face-to-face with some of his constituents that he would support Constitutional Carry, only to tell others behind closed doors that he had no intention of doing so. He agreed to co-sponsor Galloway’s bill because it’s politically “smart” for him to do it. However, he has no intention of actually helping to advance it. He will instead push his own “shall-issue” bill on the Assembly side, which more or less corresponds to Wanggaard’s Senate bill. Speaker Fitzgerald, as you already know, won’t even let Rep. Dean Knudson introduce a Constitutional Carry bill that he has all ready to go. So, as of right now, the Assembly will have NO Constitutional Carry bill even to consider. Only that of the wholly deceitful Rep. Mursau.
The leadership considers Galloway’s bill a dead issue. They basically told her she could introduce it, but as of right now, thanks to them, she can only count on about 10 votes in the Senate. She needs 17 to pass it.
As if that isn’t bad enough, they scheduled hearings on all three bills for the SAME DAY…next Thursday, May 12th (still waiting for times and exact locations, will apprise you further as soon as I have the info). It’s a divide and conquer strategy. They THINK there will be fewer people to show up at each hearing. They also believe they can force us into confusion/submission/defeat. If you show up at the Assembly hearing, for example, they think you’ll have little choice but to register in favor of the bill because there is no alternative. Boy, have they got a surprise coming…
Sen. Galloway will be holding her hearing in her own district, probably in the city of Wausau. She will be taking testimony on her own bill and that of Senator Wanggaard. Meanwhile, a hearing will be held on the Assembly “shall-issue” bill here in Madison. We need to have a MASSIVE show of people at BOTH of these hearings in order to make it clear that we support Constitutional Carry and REJECT what the leadership is currently attempting to do. They need to know that we expect more of them and that they better get on board quickly. More on how we do this in a moment.
Last night Republican legislators met in caucus. I couldn’t get many details from my source because they’re not supposed to talk about what goes on there. But I do know it got ugly. Many of the Freshmen legislators want to do the right thing, and they’re being very vocal about it. The Fitzgerald brothers and the rest of the establishment are attempting, not for the first time, to quash them. Taking a stand now will not only communicate to the establishment that we mean business, it will be a TREMENDOUS encouragement to the freshmen legislators who are working to restore our constitutional rights. We must reward BOUNTIFULLY those who do the right things by us by providing clear encouragement and thanks.
(end of quote)
It is CRITICALLY important to contact your ASSEMBLY reps and DEMAND that they support constitutional carry and allow Rep. Knudson to introduce his bill.
After the budget bill struggle, we are a divided state. Most republicans sit at around 50% support. (note how close the supreme court election was) In MANY MANY districts, after the budget struggle, many assemblymen and senators who were elected with a comfortable majority have lost a lot of that support.
GUN OWNERS ARE THE NEW SWING VOTE. A couple hundred gun-owners in a district who are displeased with their assemblymen or senators SELLING OUT their rights in favor of the out-dated permit systems that other states are doing away with, could TIP the next election. Republicans NEED the support of gun owners if they want to be re-elected or survive recall elections.
CALL YOUR LEGISLATORS, demand that they introduce constitutional carry in the Assembly JUST like the Senate did.
Carry On,
Nik ClarkChairman/President – Wisconsin Carry, Inc.
[email protected]
www.wisconsincarry.org
www.youtube.com/wisconsincarry
www.twitter.com/wisconsincarry
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About:
Wisconsin Carry, Inc. is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the preservation and reclamation of the rights of law-abiding Wisconsin residents to carry in the manner of their choosing. We believe that “open carry” and “concealed carry” are choices to be made by law-abiding citizens based on their situation and preference. Wisconsin Carry, like many gun-rights organizations in Wisconsin, is investing a great deal of resources to get Wisconsin law changed to allow concealed carry this next legislative session by proposing Constitutional Carry. Wisconsin Carry, Inc. will continue to use legal recourse to deter unlawful treatment of law-abiding Wisconsin residents who currently exercise their right to open carry, and soon will exercise their right to concealed carry in Wisconsin. Visit: www.wisconsincarry.org