Teaching in Wisconsin last weekend gave me ample opportunity to discuss with the natives the strange tableau they’re experiencing, with their state legislators from the Democratic Party having fled to Illinois to avoid a controversial vote. Meanwhile, demonstrations in the streets of Madison have reportedly involved tens of thousands of citizens. The new Governor, citing a desperate lack of funds, has just issued layoff notices to a spate of state employees.
One item on the table for the crippled Wisconsin legislature this year is shall-issue concealed carry, which would end a longstanding situation in which only Wisconsin and one other state, Illinois, have absolutely no provision for law-abiding citizens to carry loaded, concealed handguns in public for defense of self and others. Twice in the past, the Wisconsin legislature has passed the concealed carry bill…and both times then-Governor Jim Doyle vetoed it. Each time Doyle then called in chits, subverting key legislators to override their conscience and turn against the citizens they’d supported, and each time Doyle was able to get just enough legislators to change their votes that his veto couldn’t be overridden.
They say the third time is the charm, and with Doyle gone and gun-friendly Scott Walker now in the Governor’s office, it was thought that concealed carry would be a fait accompli this year. But will it pass now, in times of budget crisis so great it calls the world’s attention to Wisconsin? Where will funding for the licensing bureaucracy come from?
Gun owners’ civil rights activists have a brilliant answer: simply pass permitless carry. Called “Constitutional carry” by some, such a law allows any law-abiding citizen with a clean criminal record to carry loaded and concealed in public. It will entail only a cost-free vote and a stroke of the Governor’s pen. That model has worked for Vermont for as long as any living citizen can remember, and every year Vermont is one of our lowest crime states per capita, some years THE lowest. It has worked for years in Alaska. It is working in Arizona, and will undoubtedly work in Wyoming, which just became the fourth state to pass permitless carry.
It will work in Wisconsin. It would be a brilliant stroke that would cut the Gordian Knot, at least on this issue, for an entangled Wisconsin legislature.
Comments invited, of course, particularly from Wisconsinites.
Thanks to Jeff Dege for this great graphic representation of how far gun owners civil rights have been restored since 1986.
Mas,
It is with great pleasure that I respond to this, I have my fingers crossed for Permitless Carry in WI, I have resided here for 2 years now, and hope that soon I will be able to carry in WI, just as I can in MN.
I also feel compelled to say that it was your writing that first introduced me to handgun shooting, and fueled my desire to become a police officer. Keep on on shooting, and writing.
That’s a BRILLIANT argument for constitutional carry, “We cannot afford, with this budget crisis, to pay for licensing. So therefore, constitutional carry.”
This’ll throw the anti-gunners into a bigger hissy fit than even our (AZ’s) constitutional carry did :D.
I’m a life-long resident of Wisconsin, and holder of Florida and Arizona concealed carry permits. One of the reasons pro-gun advocates in Wisconsin are pushing constitutional carry is that we don’t need the Democrats to pass it; as a non-budgetary item, it can be passed with the Republicans already present. We just need to get the legislators to focus on it and get it done. Basically all we need is to have the concealed weapon statute currently in existence and the prohibition on uncased, loaded weapons in vehicles repealed…vote and governor’s signature…presto…Constitutional Carry…
Well WI already has Constitutional Open Carry right now…with some major warts. It’s not a stretch to change that to allow concealment and remove some of the warts. If it doesn’t hurt the budget, that’s great. But framed incorrectly, it’s too big a step for a lot of people in the upper midwest.
I hope WI and more pass Constitutional Carry. It’s passed the House here in CO, so here’s hoping CO will also join the truly Right-To-Carry.
What a great solution, Constitutional Carry not only saves money by reducing crime but it saves money by removing the processing fees! I highly doubt CCW permits actually cost much for the state to issue however. No wonder liberals hate Constitutional Carry so much…it’s too practical.
If/When CO goes Constitutional Carry, I’ll maintain my permit. For travel reasons and for any Officer that might stop me. Might make him a little more at ease?
See you in May, Mas!
That’s my only concern for WI is not having a permit by going from No-issue CCW to Constitutional Carry. However at this time it makes good sense. Maybe later they can introduce the permit on top of the constitutional carry in order to allow natives to legally carry in other states without the need for an out-of-state permit.
This is certainly a good “first step” but I would encourage their legislature to re-visit the issue of permits once the present budget crisis is resolved. The reason is the Reciprocal Agreements with other states. That is the reason that obtained (and have since renewed) my Permit even though I reside in Alaska (on of the states that allow “Constitutional Carry”…
I welcome another Constitutional Carry state! Maybe 2011 will be the year of Constitutional Carry? Wyoming’s done. Colorado, Utah, Idaho, who else are in-flight?
Constitutional Carry would also eliminate the threat of liberals forcing public access to permit holder lists. Currently the Attorney General Lisa Madigan is pressuring the Illinois State Police to release the list of Firearm Owner’s Identificaton Card (not a CCW permit) holders in Illinois to the AP. Can you believe this crap?
First thing Wisconsin needs is a FUNCTIONAL state government – as in get all the “protesting” state and local government employees occupying the Capitol gone so that the legislature can actually use it again!
Constitutional concealed carry will be a fine and proper addition to our existing warty (well said Evan) constitutional open carry. Unfortunately all politics are, in the end, rice-bowl politics, even more so in a traditionally demo-scrat dominated union state. So the gun trainers union, nasty regulator ass, is again dividing the state.
Mr. Ayoob, d’ya think that you could shut them up, please? Gun control is control and not ‘guns’.
Good people ought to be armed as they will, with wits and guns and the truth.
In my current state of residence ccw permits are handled directly by the county sheriff’s office, yearly renewals are ten bucks, and after the initial application its all done by mail. I’m legal anywhere in the southeast and most western states other than the left coast itself.
Constitutional carry with a permit option to cover reciprocity would be ideal, but any form of ccw in Wisconsin or my birth state of Illinois would be a major step forward.
I’m a born Wisconsinite, and i support constitutional carry 100%. and if the Republicans should fail to legislate a constitutional conceald carry bill soon, we may never have another chance. the apocalyptic looking future scares me. i would atleast like to have a fighting chance. glad to at last, have a Governor with a back-bone.
“It will entail only a cost-free vote and a stroke of the Governor’s pen. That model has worked for Vermont for as long as any living citizen can remember, and every year Vermont is one of our lowest crime states per capita, some years THE lowest.”
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thank you for the kind words neighbor ayoob, see vermont state supreme court archives for the year 1903, “vs. rutland”. the decision was, i believe, based on article 16 of the vermont state constitution which states the right of the people “to keep and bear arms in defense of THEMSELVES (emphasis mine) and the state.”
…add: i wish the good folks of wisconsin all good luck getting their right to constitutional carry. as massad points out it has worked well here in vermont for just over a century. the good folks sleep well and peacefully, the criminals have the nightmares about running into a citizen armed and not willing to be a victim.
Thanks, Mas! Wisconsin Gun Owners (WGO) responds:
“Of course, Ayoob is not making an argument from a definitional platform of rights, per se, he’s simply pointing out an economical argument. In other words, he’s being intellectually honest and arriving at the same conclusion.”
http://wisconsingunowners.org/2011/03/16/massad-ayoob-constitutional-carry-no-cost-solution-for-wisconsin/
Mas,
Your argument is the same one I presented to all of our reps and Governor many times this year but all of the responses I get, signal that they are leaning toward a permit system, not Constitutional Carry.
One of my biggest complaints about our current Open Carry law, even though I OC often, is the need to constantly be handling, unloading and loading your weapon in public places to comply with the law. If I make five stops in a day around town, I have to holster, unholster, load and unload approximately ten times each. That’s a lot of potential for a negligent discharge that is unnecessary.
We at Wisconsin carry even went as far to draft our own bill and submit it for review by our reps, to educate them on what the problems with a permit system are and why we don’t want it. I want to thank you for your opinion on our problem here as it holds a great amount of weight, given your expertise in this matter. Thanks again.