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Senate backs concealed carry
Veto-proof victory margin achieved
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Wisconsin residents could secretly carry guns under a bill the state Senate approved Tuesday that would end the state's 133-year-old ban on concealed weapons.
The Senate's 23-10 vote means the Republican-authored measure is now two steps from becoming law. The state Assembly must pass the bill. It would then go to Gov. Jim Doyle, who can sign it into law or veto it.
Republicans control both the Senate and the Assembly. That body could take up the measure as early as Tuesday, said Bob Delaporte, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker John Gard, R-Peshtigo.
But Doyle, a Democrat, vetoed an almost identical GOP bill in 2003 and has promised to kill this one as well.
“It will do nothing to improve public safety,” Doyle spokeswoman Melanie Fonder said.
Wisconsin is one of only four states that don't allow concealed weapons. The National Rifle Association has been pushing the issue here for almost three years.
The bill would let Wisconsin residents who pass firearms training and obtain permits to carry concealed handguns, knives, billy clubs and electric shock weapons in most public places. Exceptions in the original version of the bill included schools, taverns and police stations.
The bill's sponsors tacked on several amendments last week designed to make the measure more palatable for police, gun owners and swing lawmakers in a veto override attempt, which requires a two-thirds vote in each house.
The changes include
allowing police to access Department of Transportation records to see if the owners of vehicles they stop are concealed carry permit holders; banning drunk people from carrying weapons; and expanding the list of locations where concealed weapons still would be illegal to include youth sporting events, day cares, college buildings and churches. Senate Republicans amended the bill late Tuesday to allow owners of day cares and domestic abuse shelters to permit concealed weapons in their premises.
The bill's main sponsor in the Senate, Sen. Dave Zien, R-Eau Claire, said the measure would give Wisconsinites the ability to protect themselves from attackers and give them “the feeling they control their own destiny.”
Senate Minority Leader Judy Robson, D-Beloit, argued the bill flies in the face of homeland security and could allow terrorists to arm themselves legally.
“The bottom line is this is not where the majority of Wisconsin is,” Robson said.
Zien countered that law-abiding citizens with concealed weapons could fight off or kill attacking terrorists themselves. The Senate has one more vote than the 22 it needs to override the governor, Zien added.
“Wisconsin is going to see the personal protection act,” Zien said, using the catch-phrase Republicans have given the bill.
Opponents lined up to rail against the bill during a press conference Tuesday.
Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort executive director Jeri Bonavia pulled nine assault pistols, revolvers and semiautomatics from her pockets, waistband and socks for the television cameras.
Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, a Democrat running for attorney general, said people who grow annoyed with government workers might shoot them.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Wisconsin residents could secretly carry guns under a bill the state Senate approved Tuesday that would end the state's 133-year-old ban on concealed weapons.
The Senate's 23-10 vote means the Republican-authored measure is now two steps from becoming law. The state Assembly must pass the bill. It would then go to Gov. Jim Doyle, who can sign it into law or veto it.
Republicans control both the Senate and the Assembly. That body could take up the measure as early as Tuesday, said Bob Delaporte, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker John Gard, R-Peshtigo.
But Doyle, a Democrat, vetoed an almost identical GOP bill in 2003 and has promised to kill this one as well.
“It will do nothing to improve public safety,” Doyle spokeswoman Melanie Fonder said.
Wisconsin is one of only four states that don't allow concealed weapons. The National Rifle Association has been pushing the issue here for almost three years.
The bill would let Wisconsin residents who pass firearms training and obtain permits to carry concealed handguns, knives, billy clubs and electric shock weapons in most public places. Exceptions in the original version of the bill included schools, taverns and police stations.
The bill's sponsors tacked on several amendments last week designed to make the measure more palatable for police, gun owners and swing lawmakers in a veto override attempt, which requires a two-thirds vote in each house.
The changes include
allowing police to access Department of Transportation records to see if the owners of vehicles they stop are concealed carry permit holders; banning drunk people from carrying weapons; and expanding the list of locations where concealed weapons still would be illegal to include youth sporting events, day cares, college buildings and churches. Senate Republicans amended the bill late Tuesday to allow owners of day cares and domestic abuse shelters to permit concealed weapons in their premises.
The bill's main sponsor in the Senate, Sen. Dave Zien, R-Eau Claire, said the measure would give Wisconsinites the ability to protect themselves from attackers and give them “the feeling they control their own destiny.”
Senate Minority Leader Judy Robson, D-Beloit, argued the bill flies in the face of homeland security and could allow terrorists to arm themselves legally.
“The bottom line is this is not where the majority of Wisconsin is,” Robson said.
Zien countered that law-abiding citizens with concealed weapons could fight off or kill attacking terrorists themselves. The Senate has one more vote than the 22 it needs to override the governor, Zien added.
“Wisconsin is going to see the personal protection act,” Zien said, using the catch-phrase Republicans have given the bill.
Opponents lined up to rail against the bill during a press conference Tuesday.
Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort executive director Jeri Bonavia pulled nine assault pistols, revolvers and semiautomatics from her pockets, waistband and socks for the television cameras.
Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, a Democrat running for attorney general, said people who grow annoyed with government workers might shoot them.
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| Senate votes to end automatic gas tax hikes |
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