Wisconsin Governor Walker’s F-Grade on Gun Rights Well-Deserved
Thursday, June 30th, 2011 at 3:59 PMWisconsin Governor Walker’s F-Grade Gun Rights Well-Deserved
By Corey Graff, Executive Director WGO
Wisconsin Gun Owners
Wisconsin --(Ammoland.com)- Governor Scott Walker and state republicans trash Constitutional Carry. Do they work for the police, or for you?
If there were any lingering doubters left contemplating the fairness of the failing grade issued to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker by WGO (issued even before he was elected as a result of his failure to answer a simple gun rights survey), then the Governor’s actions in the last couple weeks ought to have taken care of any stubborn holdouts. Or so we should hope.
For months on end my staff and I attempted to get a straight answer from Walker’s office on the question of Constitutional Carry, and each time we were met with the same robotic stonewalling.
“Governor Walker has said he will sign a concealed carry bill that makes it to his desk,” said the gatekeepers.
“Governor Walker has said he will sign a concealed carry bill that makes it to his desk,” they said, again. It almost seemed as if they were repeating themselves.
Indeed, but what about Constitutional Carry? We got our answer just last week as WGO and the Wisconsin Campaign for Liberty turned up grassroots pressure on SB93 — the no-permit “Constitutional Carry” bill authored by State Senator Pam Galloway — and state media began to report that state legislators were “leaning toward Constitutional Carry.” It was then that Walker swooped out of the clouds and took a boot to the face of liberty.
Just in time, this hero of big government and do-gooder for the emerging police state ripped your right to bear arms from the jaws of victory.
According to WEAU-13 news Eau Claire, “Walker issued a statement Friday saying any bill that reaches his desk should include a permit and training.”
And there you have it: Scott Walker loses the respect of gun owners as he — ignoring tens of thousands of WGO member petitions, phone calls and e-mails delivered to his office — snuggles up to anti-gun police organizations while knifing gun owners in the back.
Constitutional Carry Fight Just Beginning
Yes, I know the institutional gun lobby initially gave lip service to SB93 — which, at the time of this writing has magically morphed into the NRA’s Personal Protection Act (PPA) — and they claim any concealed carry bill is a step in the right direction.
They also assert that in nearly every other state where Constitutional Carry has passed, it is always preceded by acceptance of a permit bill, paving the way like the Lewis and Clark of gun rights. But there’s a problem with this excuse: Those states don’t boast majorities or a coveted super-trifecta of newly elected republicans. It’s one thing to argue for incrementalism when you’re politically outgunned; it’s another thing to preemptively concede the battle when you’re in power, which is precisely what state republicans have done by taking Constitutional Carry off the table.
As of this writing, I expect the permit-to-carry bill to pass, but the real test is what happens afterward when things quiet down. That’s when state politicians will tell gun owners to shut up and go away, “we gave you your carry bill,” they will say. And many will.
But not us. You see, the fire for Constitutional Carry has already been lit. The people have gotten a taste for the political feasibility of liberty only to have it yanked away not by anti-gun democrats, but by republicans who are working for state police rather than for them. What that means for Walker, and the other F-rated big-government antigun republicans in the Wisconsin legislature, is this:
If you fought against Constitutional Carry, your F-rating is well-deserved, a fact that will not be lost on voters in upcoming elections.
About:
WGO works for grassroots gun owners, not politicians. While many gun lobbies fight for “reasonable gun control,” WGO sets a higher standard: Defining the terrain of pro-gun political battle. Sure, many groups claim they’re “pro-gun” – all the while they provide cover for anti-gun deals cut by politicians – but only WGO truly informs gun owners, remaining committed to a 100% pro-gun position. We oppose all gun control – regardless of the political party – and work tirelessly to restore the Second Amendment. Visit www.wisconsingunowners.org
