Drizzt
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Texan promotes concealed guns
By David Callender
November 3, 2005
Wisconsin lawmakers should not declare most public places off-limits to individuals carrying concealed guns, a Texas lawmaker and gun advocate said Wednesday.
"When you carve places out, you're telling a gunman where they can go to kill people like fish in a barrel," Texas Rep. Suzanna Gratia Hupp told a joint legislative hearing.
Hupp, who decided to run for office after her parents were killed in 1991 in Killeen, Texas, in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, said it would be a mistake to ban the carrying of concealed weapons from government buildings, schools, hospitals and other publicly owned facilities.
"If it is a place where we as citizens have to enter, (carrying concealed weapons) should be allowed," she said.
Hupp noted that a principal was able to stop a school shooting outside Little Rock only after he retrieved a handgun from his car - which was technically illegal.
And she noted that concealed guns are allowed in the Texas Capitol "because we didn't want to be hypocrites about this."
Hupp spoke on a bill that has already passed the Legislature in various forms twice, only to be vetoed by Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle. Lawmakers came within one vote of overriding Doyle's veto two years ago and sponsors and pro-gun groups are hoping for success this time.
Wisconsin is one of only four states that does not allow for any form of concealed-carry permit. The state's ban dates to 1870, making it one of the oldest in the nation.
The bill would require the state Justice Department to issue permits to carry a concealed weapon to adults who pass a criminal background check and complete a firearms training course.
The bill's authors, Rep. Scott Gunderson, R-Waterford, and Sen. Dave Zien, R-Eau Claire, noted that a 2003 state Supreme Court decision already opened the door to citizens legally carrying concealed weapons at home and at their businesses. The court also said that lawmakers should consider legislation to allow citizens to legally carry weapons in public through some sort of licensing process.
Zien warned that if the bill is not enacted, some gun owners are contemplating "massive civil disobedience" to challenge the ban in court.
Both he and Gunderson said that if such challenges are successful, courts could order citizens to be allowed to carry concealed weapons without any required training or permit process.
http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/index.php?ntid=60232&ntpid=1
Dr. Hupp is an amazing woman. She demonstrates a lot of logic and common sense going beyond just the right to carry, even though CHL is what got her motivated to run for office. I sometimes wish she would decide to run for higher office, but she seems pretty happy where she is.
By David Callender
November 3, 2005
Wisconsin lawmakers should not declare most public places off-limits to individuals carrying concealed guns, a Texas lawmaker and gun advocate said Wednesday.
"When you carve places out, you're telling a gunman where they can go to kill people like fish in a barrel," Texas Rep. Suzanna Gratia Hupp told a joint legislative hearing.
Hupp, who decided to run for office after her parents were killed in 1991 in Killeen, Texas, in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, said it would be a mistake to ban the carrying of concealed weapons from government buildings, schools, hospitals and other publicly owned facilities.
"If it is a place where we as citizens have to enter, (carrying concealed weapons) should be allowed," she said.
Hupp noted that a principal was able to stop a school shooting outside Little Rock only after he retrieved a handgun from his car - which was technically illegal.
And she noted that concealed guns are allowed in the Texas Capitol "because we didn't want to be hypocrites about this."
Hupp spoke on a bill that has already passed the Legislature in various forms twice, only to be vetoed by Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle. Lawmakers came within one vote of overriding Doyle's veto two years ago and sponsors and pro-gun groups are hoping for success this time.
Wisconsin is one of only four states that does not allow for any form of concealed-carry permit. The state's ban dates to 1870, making it one of the oldest in the nation.
The bill would require the state Justice Department to issue permits to carry a concealed weapon to adults who pass a criminal background check and complete a firearms training course.
The bill's authors, Rep. Scott Gunderson, R-Waterford, and Sen. Dave Zien, R-Eau Claire, noted that a 2003 state Supreme Court decision already opened the door to citizens legally carrying concealed weapons at home and at their businesses. The court also said that lawmakers should consider legislation to allow citizens to legally carry weapons in public through some sort of licensing process.
Zien warned that if the bill is not enacted, some gun owners are contemplating "massive civil disobedience" to challenge the ban in court.
Both he and Gunderson said that if such challenges are successful, courts could order citizens to be allowed to carry concealed weapons without any required training or permit process.
http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/index.php?ntid=60232&ntpid=1
Dr. Hupp is an amazing woman. She demonstrates a lot of logic and common sense going beyond just the right to carry, even though CHL is what got her motivated to run for office. I sometimes wish she would decide to run for higher office, but she seems pretty happy where she is.
