WI: get ready for new gun control bills

[Monkeyleg]

Don't know how many people here read the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, but for the past week the paper has been doing daily stories about the effects of "gun violence." The stories have been front-page and lengthy.

It was pretty clear from the outset that the editors were seizing upon Doyle's victory as well as the Republican's loss of control of the Senate as well as the loss of seven Assembly seats.

Today's JS editorials are calling for more gun control laws, including closing the "gun show loophole," and California-style gun safety tests.

There were bills introduced last session to ban the private transfer of firearms, require firearms testing, regisration of handguns, and more.

With the Democrats now in control of the Senate, expect these bills to return. Only, this time, expect them to get committee hearings and floor votes in the Senate. With Judy Robson as Senate majority leader, who knows how many senators will be persuaded to vote for these bills?

And, with the Republicans having just a five-seat majority in the Assembly, things could get dicey. Not every Assembly Republican is pro-gun.

 

[cosine]

Time to start writing emails when (and before) that stuff comes up again...


Being new to this whole "influence your legislators" deal, what else can one do? Snail mail, telephone calls, etc?

Should one contact as many of the legislators as possible, or just those from one's own district?

(Hint, hint, a basic primer for exerting this type of political pressure would be appreciated...)

 

[RioShooter]

All Politics is Local

The number one priority for all politicians is to be re-elected; and as Tip O'Neill said, "All politics is local." Therefore, contact the politicians who need YOUR vote. An e-mail from me to a Wisconsin politician would be worthless.

 

[Standing Wolf]

The new so-called "gun control" push is an effort by representatives of the Democratic (sic) party to punish those who voted against them. I saw it first hand in the People's Republic of California in the 1990s. It's just as sad to see it, albeit at a geographic remove, in Wisconsin today.

 

[jenniferjane]

I read last week's Journal Sentinel articles last week with great trepidation - I just knew it was a sign of things to come. Not good.

I'm new to all of this...what can we do? Where do we start?

 

[Monkeyleg]

jenniferjane, sorry I didn't reply to your IM. But I've already added you to our volunteer list.

The fate of these bills will probably lie in which committee the Assembly Republicans send them to. If the committee is chaired by a solidly pro-gun Republican, then we should be safe.

But the Democrats only need to get two Republicans to vote with them on any piece of legislation to pass that legislation on the floor.

Fortunately, we still have Democrat friends in the Senate: Roger Breske, Julie Lassa, Bob Wirch, Russ Decker, and, of course, Jeff Plale. Jeff has probably been the most solid on the concealed carry issue all along.

In the Assembly, we have Democrats Barbara Gronemus, Amy Sue Vruwink, and Marlin Schneider as good, solid friends.

As Standing Wolf said, though, there's going to be a push by the anti's. Judy Robson and Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser will pressure their members for whatever the anti's want.

If the Journal Sentinel and other media outlets whip people into an anti-gun frenzy, we could have problems.

 

[feedthehogs]

Moneyleg,
I wish you luck, but I don't have much hope.
My wife has relatives living in Saukville and Oostburg. All hunt and send us meat each season. When up there last year for a wedding I expressed some of your concerns I've read.

They really had no interest in any 2nd amendment stuff and pro gun issues as they all believed no one would ever take away their shot guns and bolt rifles. They also had no desire to carry concealed and almost rejected the idea believing further that if they allowed some victories, that they would be left alone.

All they really wanted to do is sit around and drink massive amounts of beer.

These are educated people with good paying jobs and own houses plus hunting camps in N. Wisconsin.
One is married to a guy who's father is an FFL and thought AR15's are EBR's.

I really hope for Wisconsin's sake this is not the general overview.

 

[AJ Dual]

I wonder if we couldn't use a front to find some "useful idiot" in the anti-gun side of the asile to offer a bill, ("multi-shot sniper rifles" and "riot guns" perhaps?) and get the damned "Cabela's Set" off their collective gluteus maximi...

 

[lamazza]

what is the "gunshow loophole" ? I just hope nothing happens before the next BobandRocco show at stae fair park

 

[Monkeyleg]

AJ, I'm really hoping that the anti-gunners--both at the national and state levels--overplay their hands.

An old friend of ours has repeatedly said that the interest in gun politics only goes up when everybody's butt is on the line.

Maybe that's what it's going to take.

And, in the darkest parts of my heart, I'm hoping that the anti's go for everything: shotguns, rifles, scopes, ammo...everything.

We've had six years of complacency. Maybe now is the time for real fear.

 

[SomeKid]

Monkey, be careful what you wish for.

While I too want the lazy hunters to get off their butts, we don't want them coming up AFTER we lose the war.

 

[artjs]

I agree with both points.

It WOULD backfire on us, with our luck this would pass and be signed;

Have a bill that could take away the shotguns & bolt actions, lets just say anything but single shot firearms. ( didn't dingbat already propose such with ammo when he was AG?)

THEN we'll see all the people come out of the woodwork !!!!

When they came for assault rifles, I didn't care because I didn't have one.
When they came for .50 cal rifes, "
When they came for semi autos, " (only had pumps)
When they came for pumps, IT WAS TOO LATE!!!

 

[Monkeyleg]

Somekid, artjs, I don't think this is a completely looney idea.

Gun sales skyrocketed during the Clinton years. Following 9/11 and then Hurricane Katrina, gun sales again went up dramatically.

What drove those increases in sales? Fear. Fear of Clinton, and then fear that state and federal governments cannot protect us all.

To their credit, hunters are probably the most likely to survive any of the above scenarios, because they know how to get food.

What they don't seem to know, or are so stubborn about recognizing, is that there are a lot of people in power who don't want the average Joe to know how to hunt and harvest food.

Go over to legis.state.wi.us and start searching the Legislative Folio database. Enter the term "firearms" for any particular legislative session, and see what kinds of bills Judy Robson has helped author.

Judy Robson is the Dianne Feinstein of Wisconsin.

She's smart, and she has hundreds of thousands of dollars in her campaign account. And she knows how to spread the money around.

She and her anti-gun cohorts will probably try to nibble around the edges of gun control issues, and see which ones draw protest, and which do not.

So, why not force her hand? Why not put issues on the table that will separate her from the political mainstream?

I don't see any downside to the idea. The only problem is finding a way to get such bills introduced.

 

[artjs]

Quote: ......put issues on the table that will separate her from the political mainstream?

I don't see any downside to the idea. The only problem is finding a way to get such bills introduced.




What we need is a Democrat SCHMUCK to introduce such a bill, then do a Sherman and vote against it when it comes up

 

[Blackfork]

Wisconsin State Rifle and Pistol Association?

Do you guys have a state CMP recognized association? Does it have a hired lobbiest? You need one. Politics is past the point where any interest group, even one with Bill of Rights protection, can exist without political influence on the ground in the state legislature.

I'm sure I have seen Wisconsin teams at Camp Perry.

Texas has the Texas State Rifle Association. We are very active but only 38,000 members. Like Wisconsin our hunters generally sit on their wallets and don't fight to protect their rights and freedoms even though the state and feds tighten the screws on hunting rights every year with increased fees and regulations. They don't get it and we have to cover their freeloading.

Put your money where your heart is.

 

[Blackfork]

Wisconsin CMP/NRA State Association

That was an easy find: The Wisconsin Rifle and Pistol Association. Not much under their legislative page though....which leads me to think they do NOT have a paid lobbiest in the state legislature. That doesn't cost as much as you might think, by the way. Lobbiests can be had part time and there is probably someone knowledgeable to be had. I'd be tempted to throw my weight into this bunch and work inside and already existing organization. They shoot pistols and black rifles so they are up to speed usually on political threats.

I'd tell the hunters that their firearms are under threat, because they are. The antihunters are going to be in the capitol trying to push legislation and someone will file it for them.

The local ranges I shoot on bump up their memberships by making the renew date the same month that folks come in to zero their deer rifles. Panola County GunClub renews and changes the locks in September.

Texas and California have the biggest State Associations. Texas even puts out a bi-monthly color magazine, a calendar, has a yearly convention, a lobbiest and a website. www.TSRA.com

 

[Monkeyleg]

I was asked to run for the board of directors of the Wisconsin Rifle & Pistol Association, and agreed, and was appointed. I missed a meeting, and they made me the legislative director in my absence.

Right now the WRPA is almost soley focused on high-power and bullseye shooting. They do very little in the way of political activities. That's why I volunteered for the board.

We're trying to form a statewide umbrella group, so that we're not split up into small groups as we are now. It's going to take time, but I think it can happen.

Once that does happen, then we'll designate a person to be the paid lobbyist.

Jim Fendry of the Wisconsin Pro-Gun Movement has been our lobbyist for 28 years, but he's trying to retire. And, right now, there's nobody to replace him.

 

[DerringerUser]

Name and email address of writer?

 

[Monkeyleg]

The writer of what?