On March 11, 2011 Gov. Walker signed the "Budget Repair Bill" into law as Wisconsin Act 10. A lawsuit was filed and a Dane County Circuit Court stopped Act 10 from going into effect.  An appeal was filed with the Wisconsin Supreme Court who ruled on this issue on June 21.  In that ruling, the high court upheld the validity of Act 10. The court held that:

Although the bill was signed into law on March 11, it will not be retroactive.  The Secretary of State will officially publish Act 10 on June 28 with an effective date of June 29.

Wisconsin is one step away from becoming the 49th state to allow law abiding citizens the right to carry concealed weapons to protect themselves and their loved ones. Currently, carrying a concealed weapon is illegal, but Senate Bill 93 creates an exception for those who obtain a license to carry a concealed weapon from the Department of Justice (DOJ). Similar legislation was approved by the legislature with bi-partisan support in 2006 only to be vetoed by Governor Doyle.  Recently, SB 93 passed the legislature with bi-partisan support, 25-8 in the Senate and 68-27 in the Assembly. Governor Walker has indicated his intent to sign the bill into law. 

In order to get a license, you will need to be 21 years or older, a Wisconsin resident,  show proof of firearm training, and not be prohibited under federal or state law or a court order from possessing a firearm. The license fee will be set by the DOJ but cannot exceed $37. The fee for the required criminal background check is $13. The license is generally good for five years unless it has been revoked. Under the new law, carrying a concealed weapon is prohibited at a police station, sheriff's office, state patrol station, prison, jail, courthouse, secure DHS facility, in or near a school, and beyond the security checkpoint at an airport.

Any privately owned places not included in the bill can choose to allow concealed weapons or choose to post notices for their buildings and surrounding properties stating that concealed weapons are strictly prohibited.  Any publicly owned places not included in the bill can choose to allow concealed weapons or post notices prohibiting concealed weapons for their buildings only.  License holders are allowed to leave a concealed weapon in their car in a parking lot if they are at a location that prohibits them from carrying a concealed weapon by due to statute or because it is posted.

Law-abiding citizens are entitled to have the means to protect themselves because law enforcement primarily investigate and solve crimes after they have occurred. They are rarely present to prevent a crime. Studies show that criminals are significantly less likely to commit a crime if they think their victim may be armed and able to protect him or herself.  Furthermore, licensed weapon carriers have assisted police officers in situations where the officer may have been killed without this assistance.  Several law enforcement officers, including the former Green Bay Crime Prevention Officer, have contacted me in support of concealed carry legislation.

That said, it is important to note that not everyone who can obtain a license to carry will choose to do so. Based on the experience of other concealed carry states, only 2% to 4% of eligible individuals ever get a license to carry.

Statistics show that limiting access and use of guns through gun control laws has had no effect on reducing violent crime. Bad people who break our laws will always have access to guns through illegal means and will illegally victimize innocent people with those guns. Gun restrictions take guns from good law-abiding citizens leaving them helpless to defend themselves from bad people. The criminals know this and take advantage of it. Chicago instituted a hand-gun ban in 1982. Since that time, the percentage of murders committed with handguns has increased by 40%.

Over the years more and more states have allowed the carrying of concealed carry weapons. Statistics show that crime was reduced when concealed carry was implemented. According to the FBI, the murder rate is at a 45 year low and total violent crime is at a 37 year low. Clearly, more guns have not led to more crimes being committed.

Concerns that accidental shootings will increase due to concealed carry permits are unfounded. 80 million American gun owners keep nearly 300 million firearms. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the number of firearm accident deaths has fallen to an all-time low despite the number of carry license holders nationwide being at an all-time high. In 2007, there were only 613 accidental deaths from gunshot wounds. Most firearm accidents occur when a person is servicing their gun improperly. In comparison, that same year nearly 23,000 Americans died from falling, nearly 30,000 died from accidental poisoning, and over 42,000 died in motor vehicle accidents.

Concerns that concealed carry permit holders will use their concealed weapon to commit crimes are also unfounded. Florida has issued 2 million licenses over the last 26 years. During that time only 168 permits have been revoked for “firearms related crimes.” Most of those “crimes” were non-violent acts such as unintentionally carrying firearms into prohibited places. The national average for license revocations is less than 0.2%. Many jurisdictions revoke licenses for acts that have nothing to do with the use of a firearm, such as failure to pay parking tickets.

Then-Florida licensing Division Director, John Russi, noted, “Florida’s concealed weapon law has been very successful. All major law enforcement groups supported the original legislation… [S]ome of the opponents of concealed weapon legislation in 1987 now admit the program has not created the problems many predicted.” (Testimony before the Michigan House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, 12/05/1995).

During debate on this bill in the Wisconsin State Senate last week, Senator Jim Holperin (D-Conover) stated that he lives 12 miles from the Michigan border. He can’t tell any difference between traveling in Michigan which allows concealed carry and traveling in Wisconsin which does not. Unless you have never traveled outside of Wisconsin, you most likely have been near a law-abiding citizen carrying a concealed weapon with a permit and you just never knew it. Senator Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee) stated that due to personal safety concerns, many people in her district carry concealed regardless of the current law.

I have heard stories of people in concealed carry states who averted becoming a crime statistic because they had a gun to protect themselves. I have heard stories of crime victims who said they would not have been victimized if they had been carrying a gun to protect themselves. To that end, I voted in support of SB 93 which has important safeguards so that only Wisconsin's law-abiding citizens will have the opportunity for this form of self-protection. 

Soon, our nation will celebrate Independence Day, in remembrance of the July 4, 1776, signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Our founding fathers truly had a bold new vision for people: a vision which became the United States of America. The creation of this country was built on the conviction that people have inalienable rights and that government would have only the powers granted by its people. The privilege of living this revolutionary concept was paid for by a revolutionary battle for autonomy.

Thanks to the innovative ideas and heroic sacrifices of our ancestors, Americans enjoy freedoms that are unparalleled in the history of the world. Not only did the Declaration of Independence bring about our nation’s independence from Britain, it also brought about personal freedoms and liberties that previous governments did not allow. Americans have freedom of speech, religion, assembly, press, redress against the government, and due process of law, just to name a few. Unfortunately, in other parts of the world, people are still being killed or punished for trying to obtain the rights and freedoms that too many Americans now see as commonplace and take for granted.

True freedom and the framework allowing that freedom to operate for all of us comes at a very high price and it should never be taken for granted. I am grateful to the soldiers who have served since the days of the Revolutionary War all the way to the present. The unique vision our founding fathers had of freedom and democracy has endured and has shined as the standard for other nations to follow.

Please join me in remembering the soldiers throughout our nation’s history who fought to obtain our freedom and fought to preserve and defend it. I hope that you and your loved ones have a very safe and enjoyable Independence Day. May God Bless the United States of America.

“Let the Fourth of July always be a reminder that here in this land, for the first time, it was decided that man is born with certain God-given rights; that government is only a convenience created and managed by the people, with no powers of its own except those voluntarily granted to it by the people. We sometimes forget that great truth, and we never should.”  - Ronald Reagan