Gun ban on buses sought in Waukesha
Transit officials drafting rule after man legally carries rifle, ammo on bus
By Mike Johnson of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: June 2, 2000
Waukesha - After a man stepped onto a city bus toting a rifle and boxes of ammunition, alarming the driver and other passengers,
Waukesha transit officials decided they wanted to ban firearms from buses.
But James Fendry, the director of the Wisconsin Pro-Gun Movement, said any rule prohibiting guns on buses would violate gun owners' rights.
"Even in areas of high crime, like the inner city of Milwaukee, there are people who travel on buses to shooting ranges and gun stores," he said. "They carry their guns in cases. They carry their guns legally.
"While it may cause some people to become partially alarmed, it is a totally legal act."
In the Waukesha case, a man carrying a rifle in a case boarded a city bus.
While waiting for his stop, he "started examining the ammunition," said transit system Director Robert Johnson.
"That unnerved the driver and the passengers. We nearly had an insurrection" by upset passengers, Johnson said.
The driver radioed a supervisor, and police were called to intercept the bus, Johnson said.
Police determined the man was transporting the rifle in a legal manner, but "the guy voluntarily agreed to leave the bus," Johnson said.
"The guy made no threatening overtures," he said. "He was innocently transporting the gun somewhere."
The incident occurred in January, and Johnson said transit officials waited until now to bring it up for two reasons.
"One, we wanted to avoid sensationalism," Johnson said. And since the incident, City Attorney Curt Meitz and other officials have been doing research so that any local ordinance or administrative rule enacted would not conflict with federal gun control legislation.
"It's taken a long time to get all that stuff together," Johnson said.
So now, transit officials want to ban from buses all guns, except those carried by law enforcement officers.
Such an ordinance would prevent incidents like the one with the rifle, which made passengers uneasy about their safety, officials said.
Despite Fendry's comment that Milwaukee gun owners carry their firearms in cases on buses there, a Milwaukee County Transit System
spokesman denied that's the case.
"We have removed people who have had weapons on the bus," said Joe Caruso, marketing director for the system.
He noted that uniformed police officers are allowed to bring weapons on the buses.
Federal law prohibits passengers from bringing hazardous and flammable materials such as gasoline on buses.
He and others said drivers have been vigilant about that law since an April 19, 1998, incident in Madison in which a man dumped a 5-gallon bucket of gasoline inside a bus and lighted it. The bus driver and four passengers were severely burned.
Caruso said while the Milwaukee County Transit System doesn't have a written rule barring firearms, the practice to ban them is a "matter of common sense."
"We can have a policy relating to the safety and well-being of passengers," he said. "A bus is a confined space. A gun of any type could be dangerous."
If a person boards a bus with a gun in a case, drivers do not have the time or all the information to decide whether the person carrying the firearm is a responsible gun owner, he said.
Instead, drivers explain that weapons aren't allowed, he said.
"It's a matter of common sense," Caruso said. "It's not us versus the NRA."
Fendry said he is unaware that Milwaukee County prohibits guns on buses and he has not received any complaints about it.
Waukesha's Johnson said he could find no federal or state laws that explicitly prohibit people from carrying guns on buses.
That's why the Waukesha Metro Transit Commission is working to draft a local rule.
Nonetheless, Fendry said a local rule banning guns would violate the state Constitution and a 1995 law that prohibits Wisconsin
municipalities from passing firearms ordinances that are more restrictive than what the state allows.
He said any rules prohibiting people from carrying firearms on buses "would definitely affect poor people."
But Waukesha City Attorney Meitz said passengers can be restricted from bringing certain items, such as guns, on city buses just as people have been prevented from carrying weapons into public buildings such as courthouses.
Meitz - who was formally asked by transit commission members on Thursday for a legal opinion - said in the case of guns on buses, one incident might be enough to justify a local ordinance.
"It's something we'd look at," he said.
An ordinance banning guns on buses would require Common Council approval.
Corissa Jansen of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
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Count the number of times the words "common sense" were used in this article. Also, notice this: " drivers do not have the time or all the information to decide whether the person carrying the firearm is a responsible gun owner." So, now bus drivers are supposed to determine who is a "responsible" gun owner? Who's next? The guy that sweeps up after the police equestrian patrols?
Where's that little puking smiley?
Dick
Transit officials drafting rule after man legally carries rifle, ammo on bus
By Mike Johnson of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: June 2, 2000
Waukesha - After a man stepped onto a city bus toting a rifle and boxes of ammunition, alarming the driver and other passengers,
Waukesha transit officials decided they wanted to ban firearms from buses.
But James Fendry, the director of the Wisconsin Pro-Gun Movement, said any rule prohibiting guns on buses would violate gun owners' rights.
"Even in areas of high crime, like the inner city of Milwaukee, there are people who travel on buses to shooting ranges and gun stores," he said. "They carry their guns in cases. They carry their guns legally.
"While it may cause some people to become partially alarmed, it is a totally legal act."
In the Waukesha case, a man carrying a rifle in a case boarded a city bus.
While waiting for his stop, he "started examining the ammunition," said transit system Director Robert Johnson.
"That unnerved the driver and the passengers. We nearly had an insurrection" by upset passengers, Johnson said.
The driver radioed a supervisor, and police were called to intercept the bus, Johnson said.
Police determined the man was transporting the rifle in a legal manner, but "the guy voluntarily agreed to leave the bus," Johnson said.
"The guy made no threatening overtures," he said. "He was innocently transporting the gun somewhere."
The incident occurred in January, and Johnson said transit officials waited until now to bring it up for two reasons.
"One, we wanted to avoid sensationalism," Johnson said. And since the incident, City Attorney Curt Meitz and other officials have been doing research so that any local ordinance or administrative rule enacted would not conflict with federal gun control legislation.
"It's taken a long time to get all that stuff together," Johnson said.
So now, transit officials want to ban from buses all guns, except those carried by law enforcement officers.
Such an ordinance would prevent incidents like the one with the rifle, which made passengers uneasy about their safety, officials said.
Despite Fendry's comment that Milwaukee gun owners carry their firearms in cases on buses there, a Milwaukee County Transit System
spokesman denied that's the case.
"We have removed people who have had weapons on the bus," said Joe Caruso, marketing director for the system.
He noted that uniformed police officers are allowed to bring weapons on the buses.
Federal law prohibits passengers from bringing hazardous and flammable materials such as gasoline on buses.
He and others said drivers have been vigilant about that law since an April 19, 1998, incident in Madison in which a man dumped a 5-gallon bucket of gasoline inside a bus and lighted it. The bus driver and four passengers were severely burned.
Caruso said while the Milwaukee County Transit System doesn't have a written rule barring firearms, the practice to ban them is a "matter of common sense."
"We can have a policy relating to the safety and well-being of passengers," he said. "A bus is a confined space. A gun of any type could be dangerous."
If a person boards a bus with a gun in a case, drivers do not have the time or all the information to decide whether the person carrying the firearm is a responsible gun owner, he said.
Instead, drivers explain that weapons aren't allowed, he said.
"It's a matter of common sense," Caruso said. "It's not us versus the NRA."
Fendry said he is unaware that Milwaukee County prohibits guns on buses and he has not received any complaints about it.
Waukesha's Johnson said he could find no federal or state laws that explicitly prohibit people from carrying guns on buses.
That's why the Waukesha Metro Transit Commission is working to draft a local rule.
Nonetheless, Fendry said a local rule banning guns would violate the state Constitution and a 1995 law that prohibits Wisconsin
municipalities from passing firearms ordinances that are more restrictive than what the state allows.
He said any rules prohibiting people from carrying firearms on buses "would definitely affect poor people."
But Waukesha City Attorney Meitz said passengers can be restricted from bringing certain items, such as guns, on city buses just as people have been prevented from carrying weapons into public buildings such as courthouses.
Meitz - who was formally asked by transit commission members on Thursday for a legal opinion - said in the case of guns on buses, one incident might be enough to justify a local ordinance.
"It's something we'd look at," he said.
An ordinance banning guns on buses would require Common Council approval.
Corissa Jansen of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
******************************
Count the number of times the words "common sense" were used in this article. Also, notice this: " drivers do not have the time or all the information to decide whether the person carrying the firearm is a responsible gun owner." So, now bus drivers are supposed to determine who is a "responsible" gun owner? Who's next? The guy that sweeps up after the police equestrian patrols?
Where's that little puking smiley?
Dick