WI: Senator Zien to introduce CCW bill

M

Monkeyleg

New member
Next Thursday, state Senator Dave Zien will introduce the 2005 Personal Protection Act. There will be a press conference in the Senate Parlor in the Capitol at 10 am.

Senator Zien would like to have as many supporters present as possible. Those who can attend should go to Senator Zien's office at about 9:30 am or so.

Overriding Governor Doyle's veto will be as difficult as last year, but not impossible. If anything, we have a slightly better chance of doing so this session.

The Wisconsin Concealed Carry Association needs as many volunteers as we can get. If you'd like to help, email us at info@wisconsinconcealedcarry.com
 
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MonkeyLeg, thanks for the post.

Email sent moments ago.

I'm there providing I can get a vacation day. Please provide details in your response to my email.

Thanks!
Bryan
 
Thanks for posting this here, Dick. I hope we'll be able to round up a few good people to stand with you next Thursday morning.

Good luck getting CCW this year. I think Wisconsin is due!

-Dave
 
Good luck, Dude. I hope people come out in force and you finally get'r'done.

I was just in Madison recently, which was kind of like Boulder Colorado (charming, but as left wing as you can get). Hopefully there are sensible people in the rest of the state.
 
Yeah, it's pretty disgusting when I'm paging through my local Gander Mountain ad, and at the bottom corner of the area where they're advertizing a pistol it says something along the lines of "Not available in Madison."
 
Trip20, the whole deal with Madison and handguns is political.

Back in 1994 or so, Madison passed a ban on handguns, as well as other restrictive gun measures.

When we got a statewide pre-emption law passed, Madison's gun ban became a piece of history, since no municipality could pass gun legislation more restrictive than state law.

However, the Madison city government still comes down heavy on shops that carry handguns, so many shops have decided to avoid the hassle.

It's just like open carry here: legal, but don't try it.

I've already received some emails from people who got involved last year and are now unwilling to get involved because we didn't win last year.

What a strange notion. It's like giving up on target shooting because you didn't hit the X-ring the first time you tried.

Fortunately, we've had some Democrats in pro-gun areas who opposed the concealed carry bill last year retire, and be replaced by new Dem's who may be in favor. I'm not saying that our chances are substantially better, but I'm told they're better. And, considering that we only lost by one vote, it's worth the effort.
 
You gotta find a tie-in to Deer Hunting. Tis the season.

Jim <== previous 12 year citizen of Kenosha, now a Californicator.
 
jsp98m3, I did find a tie-in to deer hunting, but Zien and Gunderson rejected the idea.

My proposal was that anyone with a valid hunting license, engaged in the activity of hunting, could carry a concealed weapon (knife, gun) without the need for a permit.

My thinking was that hunters would like being able to put their guns under their jackets if it started to rain, or just carry a sidearm just in case.

Zien and Gunderson decided that adding that proposal would then bring the DNR into the picture, adding yet another government agency to fight.

You're right, though: if we could find some way to get the hunters on our side, this would almost be a slam-dunk. Any bill that has the backing of the majority of hunters in Wisconsin gets passed. It's that simple.

I just can't think of a way to reach out to those guys.

There's nothing more frustrating than working a gun show in Onalaska or Shawano or Antigo, and looking out at that sea of camouflage. That many gun owners in largely Democrat districts, and they don't care about concealed carry.

True story: I spent an entire weekend at a gun/sporting goods store in Wausau with a cell phone, trying to get people to call the senator from that area and leave a message urging him to vote to override Governor Doyle's veto. The senator was a key Democrat vote for the veto override.

Anyway, the FedEx guy stopped in. The only tipoff that he was a FedEx driver was his hat; the rest of his outfit was camouflage.

After I explained to him what I was doing, the FedEx guy told me he was against concealed carry because he had a hair-trigger temper and that, if he had a license to carry, he'd probably wind up shooting somebody.

I almost started to say that, if he has such a hair-trigger temper and is so dangerous, that was all the more reason for the rest of the citizenry to be able to defend themselves against him, but discretion got the better part of me.

I'd bet $1000 that the FedEx driver voted for Doyle in 2002. :(
 
I think the problem is two-fold. One, violent crime is a relatively small problem in Wisconsin compared to other rustbelt states. Second, from personal experience it seems that hunters (and it seems there is always SOMETHING in season) aren't generally treated as felons for having a pistol in the pickup or on their person. I've had the DNR fail to mention a pistol sticking out of my jacket while bass fishing on a river bank in Boaz.

He did get exercised about me catching and releasing trout without a trout stamp. I pointed out that only bass and other generic pan fish were on my stringer and I had little control over what a trout decided to bite. Afterall, I actually WAS throwing them back. He suggested I move downstream a half mile where the river widened out and slowed down to avoid temptation. I agreed I'd do it. I didn't actually move. But I did keep throwing the trout back in the water.

Jim
 
jsp98m3, sounds like you came across a pretty friendly DNR warden. I've heard horror stories about others' encounters with them.

The "relatively low crime problem" you mention is one that opponents of CCW cite as a reason not to pass our bill.

Well, "relatively low" doesn't mean much unless you're one of the roughly 12,000 victims of murder, rape, robbery, assault or other crimes that are perpetrated upon Wisconsin citizens every year. (Not attacking you, but those are the numbers).

For any one of those roughly 12,000 victims, I'm sure the event was very personal, and it wouldn't matter if that victim was one of 1,200 or 12,000 or 120,000.

By citing our "relatively low" violent crime numbers, opponents of concealed carry are in essence saying that there is a reasonable threshold of violent crime which they will tolerate before allowing citizens to defend themselves.

It would seem to me that such a threshold is not only arbitrary, but morally indefensible.

If Sarah Brady and the VPC and other gun-ban groups' claims that "if it saves just one child's life, it's worth it" arguements can hold at least a thimble of water, then it stands to reason that our side can point to myriad cases of self-defense that hold barrels of water.

Our opponents use emotions. They can talk about Little Johnny who got shot on the North Side of Milwaukee. Of course, they don't mention that Little Johnny got shot by a rival drug dealer.

And neither can we. It only makes us look bad.

The problem is, we can't get the media to pay even lip service to the potential victim of Little Johnny the night before, who showed Little Johnny that he was carrying, and caused Little Johnny to go home and change underwear.

No blood, no story.

We've had victims of violent crimes, including gang-rapes, testify before Senate and Assembly committee hearings. Their testimony is gut-wrenching. It makes you want to turn into a vigilante and hunt down these animals, who are still out there, unpunished.

Amazing, isn't it, that the media will not give even one column to these victims' stories?

Gee, do ya think there's a bias here? And what about doz Packers, eh?
 
Oh its a conundrum alright. The public in places like Wisconsin and Minnesota believe that violent crime is low and therefore CCW laws are at best unneccessary and at worst will contribute to more violence. Once the crime gets to the levels in Chicago, Gary, Cleveland and Detroit, then the feeling is that arming the citizens will definitely result in open warfare on the streets.

Sigh.

There is a window of opportunity. You just have to be ready for it. I hope this is that time.
 
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