Madison, Wisconsin - shooting sports situation???

K

Kernel

New member
I've been offered a job with a company in Madison, Wisconsin. I'm 99% certain I'll accept. What's the shooting sports situation? Private clubs with handgun & (at least) 100 yd rifle ranges? Maybe with an indoor pistol range. I live for handgun deer hunting.

Will start looking for housing on the SW side, 5 to 15 miles out. I've been in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for 10 years (I belong to the Izaak Walton League here) - weather should be about the same, and I don't anticipate significant culture shock. Thanks in advance for your replies. -- Kernel
 
Kernal...

Believe it or not, Madison is the epi-center of Socialism in Wisconsin, or should I say liberal leftists. You've got the Capital there with all its politicos, plus the University of Wisconsin with all its academia.

Milwaukee and Madison control state politics, which is a crying shame since they occupy such a small portion of the dairy state. Hunting pressure is relatively heavy since you've got such a populated (and hunting unfriendly) state to the south which pours thousands of non-resident hunters into the dairy state, come season. Wisconsin is full-auto friendly, but hasn't passed CCW.

There are many, many patriots in Wisconsin, so you'll be in good hands. But try looking a little farther out than 10 miles. There isn't much traffic heading in/out of Madison, so commuting shouldn't be a big deal. Half an hour away from Madison you'll be plenty safe. Good luck.
 
Kernel, Paul Revere is right. A friend once described Madison as "six square miles of liberalism surrounded by common sense." The city government in Madison is very anti-gun,
but a statewide pre-emption bill passed three years ago keeps the mayor in check. We've got some good pro-gun assemblymen and senators who are working on CCW. We may get it next year, if the Democratic leader of the Senate can be taken down a notch or two. In the Southeast part of the state, Milwaukee mayor Norquist pretty much runs things, but he's failed at any kind of gun control initiatives
he's tried to start.

You might consider, as Paul suggested, living outside of Madison. There are some really great towns between Madison and Milwaukee.
As for places to shoot, the closest big range I know of is McMillan, just outside of the town of Eagle. They're set up for 100 yd, pistol, trap and other such. South of Milwaukee is the Racine County Line club, which has a 600 yd. range for service rifle competition and other matches.

You might want to call Rusk Gun Shop in Madison for info on other ranges closer to that city.

Hope this helps.

Dick
 
I'm originally from WI, we call Madison the "Land of the Perpetually Offended" They aren't socialist, just outright communist. (not really much of a difference, when I think about it)
VERY VERY poor area for any shooting sports. I'm not sure about Madison, since I ignore 99% of their silly statutes, but even owning a handgun may be illegal. Milwaukee has in effect banned them. I actually moved from WI expressly because of their unfriendly gun laws. You should visit first, just go downtown to State street if you want to see the dregs of society. Shooting is very difficult. Ranges are few and far between, with the accompaning poor service and astronomical fees. All public land is barred from shooting use with the exception of state-owned rifle ranges open about 2 weeks before hunting season to let hunters zero their rifles and closing immediately after. Gun stores, when they can be found, will be very expensive.
There is also a very unfriendly view of self-defense. If someone breaks into your house, you are better off running unless you want to spend some time in jail.
Beautiful area, POOR government. Chances are slim, but if the situation someday changes, I will move back.
 
My brother is starting a marksman's club and firearms education group at UW-Madison. According to him, the Military Science department operates a range in the basement of one of the buildings. I don't know if the general public can shoot there, but it may be worth a telephone call.

-z
 
I very much doubt that "Milwaukee has pretty much banned them" (handguns). Norquist was the liberal, reputedly-homosexual mayor there when I moved away in 1991, having lived in and around Milwaukee for 20 years before that, and while Norquist was a real weenie, I very much doubt that, even with his help, a pro-hunting area like Milwaukee would have permitted passage of "handgun bans" of the sort that exist in Morton Grove & Evanston, IL (yeah, I lived there, too). There were several indoor & outdoor ranges in the Milwaukee area, best of which was The Shooters Shop in West Allis. Even with Tommy Thompson as governor, they've never been able to get state-wide CCW passed through the liberal bastion of Madison; most unsatisfactory! It's a very nice state in many ways, but I'm glad I no longer live there.

------------------
"Potius sero quam nunquam."
 
Hmm,
Not sure I agree with all the replies here.... But the best Description I have ever heard of Madison is "25 square miles surrounded by reality"...
The company I work for is in Madison. I live about 40 miles out, Fort Atkinson. (SE)
I agree you should live outside Madison, however I don't agree with "no traffic in/out" of madison... There are a lot of commuters now.
Shooting is Fairly prevalent in WI, CCW is not currently legal, so you may not find a lot of support there.

Wisconsin DOES have a law prohibiting cities from forcing ranges out of business. (so technically any range can be there forever)
Target Shooting is generally frowned upon on State (public) lands, however I have found several shooting ranges (don't forget the one by deerfield, near 73 and BB, I haven't been there yet, but wll someday).
Trap ranges are common, Sauk City has at least one near Roxbury, there are some leagues around, but I am not in one, so I can't help more.

Hope you get to make the move, I know you will find somewhere to shoot, just no guarantee you will find it convenient.

FWIW, your mileage may vary, see dealer for details
Later,
Gfrey
(email me if you heard something and want me to check it out in detail, or you want to know about a specific city)
 
Milwaukee has IN EFFECT banned handguns. There are so many restrictions it makes L.A. look friendly. I can't list the details, I never paid them any attention. I DO know that if you bring a handgun into Milwaukee, don't get pulled over. You will go to jail. It must be cased and locked away from ammo and in such a manner that is inaccessable from the passenger compartment (in the judgement of the cop, and they will not like you.) There are restrictions on the type of gun you may have in the city. Barrel length, "saturday night specials" etc. etc..
Who knows, maybe it's changed in a couple years. But I never took a gun into Milwaukee unless the risk to me justified a couple nights in the slammer.

Oh yeah, shooting on public land isn't frowned upon, it's a crime punishable by a bunch of dough and 20 years. That one I do know since it's something I may have done quite a bit.

[This message has been edited by Dave AA (edited April 20, 2000).]
 
Now, wait a minute. I live in Milwaukee. I shoot in Milwaukee, as well as at my club's range in one of the suburbs. And I'm not aware of any gun that's restricted, other than full-auto (I got my form 4 signed by the
sheriff _before_ Norqurst took office. No more form 4's now).

In 1994, Norqurst and his cronies got a handgun ban referendum on the ballot, and it was defeated 75% to 25%, thanks in large part to the Milwaukee Police Association which opposed it.

As for transportation of a gun, the gun and ammo must be separate. I've never had a problem, and that seems to be the law in most states I've visited.

Thompson's been very good on gun issues, as has the Republican majority in the Assembly.
We got a range protection act passed that grandfathers in all existing ranges, so that they can't be shut down by someone who just built a house near a range and "didn't know" about the noise. We got a statewide pre-emption bill bassed to prevent municipalities from passing their own gun laws. We got a Right to Keep and Bear Arms amendment to the State Constitution passed.

Madison is a useless city, IMO, but the state is pretty pro-gun. Certainly moreso than what I hear from posters on this board from other states.

So there.
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Dick
 
Kernel, I live in this tax hell state west of Green Bay in a heavily wooded area. I will hopefully someday move to the UP of Michigan.(No people& no problems there yet)

We have great deer hunting in this area, and I have a shooting range set up on the property.

As far as politics go, we have a severe liberal bias in Milwaukee, and south, and especially in Madison. Our last national Senate election Mark Neuman(R) ran against incumbent socialist Russ Feingold. Neuman carried all but 3 or 4 counties out of 72 and lost the election by approx. 20,000 votes. We have no representation in the US Senate whatsoever, with Feingold and the arrogant Herb Kohl serving as our 2 senators.

I am currently corresponding with state Rep Scott Gunderson concerning a CCW hearing introduced by him and Dave Ziem another assembly rep. We haven't gained much traction yet. I started off on a bad note with them, stating that the Constitution already provides me with the RKBA anyway I want, so I can't say where this will lead.

If you can get the hell out of Madtown, do so. It is the biggest foreign country outside of New York City, that I have ever been in.

Hope this helps. McChainsaw

[This message has been edited by McChainsaw (edited April 20, 2000).]
 
"Fifty-six square miles surrounded by reality" is how I've heard Madison described by a Postdoc (from U. of Wisc.) in a lab I worked in as a grad student at Illinois. I'd take this as meaning something, since he was a big liberal.

The Progressive, a liberal socialist intellectual rag, is based there. The police chief baked his gun in his oven (stupid SOB hid it in the oven when off duty) because he forgot it was there.

Live in the burbs of Madison.
 
Thanks to everyone for your replies. I called today to accept the offer. Yeah, I was aware that Madison is the "Berkley" wannabe of the Midwest (Iowa City tries so hard, but they can't hold an aroma-therapy candle to Madison). Which is funny, cuz everyone I've ever known from Wisconsin fishes, hunts, and is politically conservative. -- Kernel
 
Kernel,
I also live in this liberal haven. As many have stated it is Socialist central. I also belong to the Deerfield range and go there to shoot at least 3 times a week in summer and atleast 1 time in the winter, no matter how cold. I am not a fair-weather shooter. (Mickey Mouse boots are a must). E-mail me at litearm@hotmail.com if your interested in going once you get settled. If this pic works you'll see myself and father and several others out on a farm in a winter shoot. If the word "wolverenes" comes to mind it wouldn't be the first response like it to the pic
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[This message has been edited by eeniii (edited April 24, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by eeniii (edited April 24, 2000).]
 
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