Wisconsin Carry Calls On State Legislature To Fix Gun-Free-School-Zone Law

Repeal Gun Free Zones
Wisconsin Carry Calls On State Legislature To Fix Gun-Free-School-Zone Law
Wisconsin Carry
Wisconsin Carry

Wisconsin –-(Ammoland.com)- A law-abiding 34 year old Oconomowoc woman with a permit to conceal carry is facing potential felony charges for an honest mistake that 1,000’s of Wisconsinites likely make every day.

With nearly 250,000 concealed carry license holders in Wisconsin, thousands of mothers, fathers, relatives, guardians, and other law abiding citizens are committing a felony if they so much as pull on to a school parking lot to drop their kids off at school while armed.

Wisconsin’s Gun-Free-School-Zone law 948.605 was modeled after the Federal GFSZ law.

However when Wisconsin’s GFSZ law was passed in the 1990’s, Wisconsin did not have concealed carry. Both the Wisconsin and federal GFSZ laws make it a felony to carry on school grounds BUT the federal law has an exception to allow concealed carry license holders to carry on school grounds. Since Wisconsin didn’t have concealed carry at the time, there was no reason to adopt the exemption for concealed carry license holders. Now that concealed carry is the law here in Wisconsin, this oversight sets a dangerous felony trap for otherwise innocent law-abiding citizens.

Wisconsin Carry calls on the Wisconsin legislature to act on behalf of the nearly 1/4 Million Wisconsinites who could accidentally be exposed to felony charges.

Wisconsin should mirror the federal GFSZ statute and allow concealed carry license holders the right to carry on school grounds. 18 other states have already adopted this language.

Current Wisconsin law would require individuals to stop on public streets off of school property, unholster, unload, and place their gun in a case before driving onto school property. Parents and guardians who walk their kids to school would have to unholster, unload, and place their gun in a case while standing across the street from a school before stepping on to school property. We don’t think having citizens unnecessarily unholster their sidearm in public in order to comply with an oversight in state law is good policy for anyone.

Citation of exemption for concealed carry license holders:

(ii) if the individual possessing the firearm is licensed to do so by the State in which the school zone is located or a political subdivision of the State, and the law of the State or political subdivision requires that, before an individual obtains such a license, the law enforcement authorities of the State or political subdivision verify that the individual is qualified under law to receive the license;

Based on conversations with legislators we understand legislation will be introduced to allow off-duty and former police officers the ability to carry on school grounds but it will not include law abiding concealed carry license holders.

It is unacceptable for legislators to create a special class of citizens (in the form of off duty and former police officers) with rights beyond those of “we the people” who sent them to Madison to act on our behalf.

Furthermore, most police departments have already entered into special agreements with local school districts to allow off-duty officers to carry on school grounds at will. There is *NO* evidence that off-duty police are getting snared by this oversight in Wisconsin law, but there ARE examples of law-abiding individuals being arrested and some charged with felonies for an honest mistake.

Its shameful that legislators are more concerned with extending privileges to off-duty and former police officers who have not faced legal jeopardy, while the law-abiding continue to be exposed to drastic consequences.

Carry On,

Nik Clark
Chairman/President – Wisconsin Carry, Inc
www.wisconsincarry.org
[email protected]
414-517-6219

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

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Richard Mitts

Has this law been changed yet or is it still a felony to carry on school grounds. I don’t feel like my kids are really safe in this day and age. We need that law changed. the sooner, the better.