Posts Tagged ‘WI’
Swamped
Wisconsin swamped by concealed-carry applications
Wisconsin residents have overwhelmed the state Justice Department with so many concealed weapon permit applications agency officials say they probably won’t meet deadlines for issuing approvals this month despite pulling dozens of employees from other tasks to help.
A state law that allows Wisconsin residents to carry concealed weapons went into effect Nov. 1. Under the law, state residents 21 or older who submit $50 to the Justice Department, pass an agency background check and prove they have received some firearms training can obtain a permit to carry. The law requires the agency to process applications received before Nov. 30 within 45 days. Any applications received after that date must be processed within 21 days.
Wisconsin Castle Doctrine
Castle Doctrine Legislation Signed into Law!
Yesterday, Governor Scott Walker signed into law important self-defense legislation for the citizens of Wisconsin. Commonly known as the “Castle Doctrine,” Assembly Bill 69 will provide essential protections for law-abiding citizens who defend themselves and their families from a criminal looking to do them harm. This new law took effect immediately.
“Castle Doctrine” establishes the presumption that an individual who forcibly enters one’s home, business or occupied motor vehicle is there to cause death or great bodily harm, and allows the use of force, including deadly force, against that person. This bill also eliminates any “duty to retreat” so that law-abiding citizens no longer must turn their back on a criminal and try to run when attacked.
Finally, AB 69 provides that any person who uses force, authorized by law, shall not be prosecuted for using such force and also prohibits criminals and their families from suing victims for injuring or killing the criminals who have attacked them. In short, it restores rights to law-abiding people and forces judges and prosecutors to focus on protecting victims.
Another good move in the Badger State.
Talk About Paranoid…
Sebastian observes And They Say We’re Fearful
Eugene Kane in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Before today, I never had to worry about encountering covertly armed strangers during my daily routine.
That, boys and girls, is as stupid a thing as you’ll ever read. If he really thinks he’s never encountered “covertly armed” people before during his daily routine, he’s ignorant. Let’s hope he’s just pretending to be ignorant.
With concealed carry laws in effect, I can’t be too lax about casual encounters anymore. I have to remind myself to be aware of any sudden movements or suspicious behavior by individuals while in public space.
Why wouldn’t anyone be “aware of any sudden movements or suspicious behavior” at any time, regardless of whether you think they’re armed or not? This is a fake paranoia.
Even driving back and forth from home to work takes on a new relevance. I have to make it a point to be more courteous to fellow motorists and exhibit extreme road courtesy in all situations.
Mr. Kane pretends to be unaware that more people are killed in cars by cars than they are by gun crime.
I’m going to have to start watching for the hunched-over posture that could signal a concealed gun carrier.
Maybe a telltale bump or protrusion under their clothing. Of course, as it gets colder, that’s going to be a lot more difficult to decipher.
If anyone has really been so cluelessly unaware of suspicious behavior, highway dangers, or telltale bumps under clothing, there’s nothing more that a few people legally carrying guns is going to do. Though it’s tough to know for sure, I suspect he’s playing dumb to try to prove some sort of point.
In the end, though, I think he shifts from playing dumb to actually being dumb:
Yes, the tavern; the law says you can carry a concealed weapon in a bar as long as you’re not drinking.
I suspect some folks will obey that law about as well they do drunken-driving statutes.
This is one of the things that I find so telling about those who wring their hands over gun laws. They pretend that gun law will help, but they will readily admit that they don’t think other laws help other issues.
Critics of the right to keep and bear arms often claim that gun owners want guns because they’re so afraid. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. Even when it’s wrong.
The Rush is on in the Badger State
Wisconsin Issues First CCW License, 80,000 Applications Downloaded in 9 Hours
Nice to see.
How many shootouts over parking spaces will we see in Wisconsin over the next month?
Badger State Reciprocity
Concealed weapons permits from the following states will be good in Wisconsin:
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maryland
Michigan
Minnesota
Nebraska
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Pennsylvania
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Washington
Wyoming
Puerto Rico
U.S. Virgin Islands
Permits from the listed states will be recognized in Wisconsin as an “out-of-state” license.
Blood in the Streets of Wisconsin
Okay, no blood. But we’ve been assured it’s coming: Sheboygan DA blasts concealed-carry law
“It is outrageous when, hiding behind a constitutional right, special interest groups’ paranoia and extreme views put our officers at risk when they are simply trying to do their sworn duty and remain as safe as possible,” said Sheboygan County District Attorney Joe DeCecco in a news release Wednesday. “The present prohibition endangers the officers upon whom we depend for public safety, and reflects the extreme agenda and paranoia of the National Rifle Association and other gun lobbying groups that advanced these provisions. What are they afraid of?”
Luckily
[Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr.] said he didn’t believe any changes would be made to the law right now, and that he’s OK with that.
“The debate’s over,” he said. “Everybody just exhale. Forty-eight other states have this. They haven’t experienced all this hysteria and fear-mongering, and life went on in those states. We’ll be fine.”
Emphasis Murdoc’s.
Carry Coming to Wisconsin?
New concealed carry bills go further than previous efforts
Madison — Republican lawmakers are moving quickly on bills to allow people to carry concealed weapons without any training and potentially without having to obtain state permits…
With Republicans now controlling the Legislature and governor’s office, a concealed weapons bill is expected to easily pass this session.
Rep. Jeff Mursau (R-Crivitz) and Sen. Pam Galloway (R-Wausau) released two bills Wednesday they wrote together, both of which go much further than past versions of legislation that has gotten traction in the Legislature.
One bill would make Wisconsin a shall-issue state for CCW permits. The other would allow carry without a permit.
Concealed carry bills have been passed before in Wisconsin only to be vetoed by a Democratic governor. Not this time. Murdoc doesn’t think the question is IF concealed carry comes to Wisconsin. The question is HOW SOON.
That will leave Illinois as the only state in the Union without some form of concealed carry allowed. Of course, several states with may-issue permits don’t issue all that many.
Via Sebastian.
Wisconsin expected to expand gun owner rights
Could the Badger state, with a newly-elected legislature and governor, be on the verge of becoming the 49th state with concealed carry rights?
‘He’s a fine young man’
15-year-old boy had held 23 students and a teacher hostage in a classroom
MARINETTE, Wis. — A 15-year-old student who held about two dozen students and a teacher hostage for several hours in a classroom at a Wisconsin high school died Tuesday at a hospital from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.
It seems that no one has any clue what could have caused this. The shooter didn’t make any demands and everyone seems to think he was a swell kid. Apparently another “just snapped” incident with no reasons or warning signs. Or whatever.
He had 9mm and .22 pistols, plus a knife. It’s “not clear where the boy got the weapons or how he sneaked them into school.”
Incidentally, Wisconsin is one of only two states with no provisions for regular people to get a concealed carry permit.
Wow in Wisconsin
Judge rules concealed carry ban unconstitutional
A Clark County judge says Wisconsin’s ban on carrying concealed weapons is unconstitutional. In the case, authorities charged a Sauk City man with carrying a concealed weapon, after he admitted he had a knife in his waistband. He never threatened anyone. In light of the landmark Supreme Court ruling in McDonald v. City of Chicago, attorney William Poss filed a motion to dismiss the case on constitutional grounds. Judge Jon Counsell obliged Wednesday, ruling the law is overly broad and violates both the Second and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution.
Wisconsin, of course, is one of two states with no concealed handgun carry permits. Illinois is the other.
Sent by a reader who writes: “Another crack in the dam.”
Some people are running around, trying to put their fingers in the holes. Murdoc’s got a finger for them, but he doubts they’d appreciate the gesture.
Diverting 911 Funds
Cash-strapped states raid 911 funds
More than $200 million collected from cell phone users for upgrades to the 911 system has been diverted in the last two years to plug state budget holes, keep campaign promises and, in at least one case, buy police uniforms, an Associated Press analysis has found.
Never, ever rely only on the authorities to keep you safe or help you when you need it. Especially if anyone in power has campaign promises to keep.
Oregon, Arizona, Delaware, Hawaii, Wisconsin and Tennessee are among the states that have dipped into their 911 money recently. New York and Rhode Island have been diverting their funds for at least five years. States started collecting the funds in the 1990s.
In the fiscal year that ended in June 2008, Rhode Island collected $19.4 million in 911 fees and used $5.8 million for 911. The rest went to the state’s general fund.
If only politicians would make campaign promises to upgrade the 911 system, they could raid the 911 upgrade funds to keep their promise to upgrade the 911 system.
23 State Attorneys General To Attorney General Holder: “No Semi-Auto Ban”
Via the NRA-ILA:
On June 11, the top law enforcement officials of nearly half the states signed a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, expressing their opposition to reinstatement of the federal ban on semi-automatic firearms.
“We share the Obama Administration’s commitment to reducing illegal drugs and violent crime within the United States. We also share your deep concern about drug cartel violence in Mexico. However, we do not believe that restricting law-abiding Americans’ access to certain semi-automatic firearms will resolve any of these problems,” the letter said.
The letter notes congressional opposition to bringing back the ban, and calls for increasing enforcement of existing laws.
We encourage NRA members to let these state officials know we appreciate them standing up to the incessant clamor for gun control that is currently coming from anti-gun groups and their media allies.
The 23 state Attorneys General, in alphabetical order, by state, are:
Read the rest of this entry »
