WI: the push for CCW begins

[Monkeyleg]

With the state senate having gone 18-15 Republican (and the only true anti-gun Republican having been booted out), and the state assembly gone 58-41 Republican, we're looking at the chances of concealed carry being passed in both houses at 100%.

We have an anti-gun governor who needs 100% cooperation from the legislature to help fix a $2.6 to $4.3 billion budget deficit. He can't afford to make enemies.

On the Democrat side, we have many Dem's in the assembly who voted for CCW in the last session. On the senate side, we're looking at potentially four to six senate Democrats who've indicated they'd vote for CCW.

It only takes 22 senate votes and 66 assembly votes to shut Governor Doyle down on this issue. He can veto the bill, and likely be overridden. That would set an image for the next four years that he doesn't want: road kill.

He can sign the bill, but he won't.

Or he can just let it sit for 30 days, and it automatically becomes law without his signature.

Believe it or not, this is the best chance we've had of overturning the ban on concealed carry since 1873. All the political forces are aligned just right. Legislators who just last session thought it could never pass now think it can.

If any of you Wisconsinites have never gotten involved in this fight, my God, please do so now! Write your state senator and representative, and when you're done, get your wife/husband, daughters, sons, friends, and talented dogs to write as well.

For more information, and to sign up for email alerts, go to http://www.wisconsinconcealedcarry.com .

Make no mistake: this isn't going to be a cakewalk. It's going to be a tough political fight, but one that we can win.

Michiganers can carry concealed. So can Minnesotans. And Iowans. And Hoosiers. Aren't you sick of being a second-class citizen in this country?

 

[Big_R]

Monkeyleg:

I wish you the best of luck. Truth be told, MN has a CCW law, but it isn't very good. The permits are subject to the discretion of the local sheriff who may deny for any reason, even without a reason. MN will probably pass a decent shall issue law this year. Even according to the Star Tribune, the senate which is technicaly Democrat dominated has enough conservative Democrats to have a working majority. The house has a strong republican majority. A similar bill almost passed last year, but was withdrawn after an amendment was added restoring the sheriff's discretion. I would like to see both states pass a decent law.

Ryan

 

[Blackhawk]

Great report, Dick!

May it become a fulfilled prophecy!

 

[mpthole]

Thanks for the update!

 

[TheeBadOne]

Any level of CCW law in WI is a win. They currently have no CCW of any level allowed, period.

 

[cobb]

I hope Wisconsin the best in passing a shall issue law.

But I have to correct Monkeyleg about Minnesota having a conceal carry law, at least a fair conceal carry law. In my Minnesota county the clerk will not even accept an application for a permit unless you hand in a letter with it saying it is required by your employer. So, if you don't have a job that requires you to carry, you can't even apply.

Some conceal carry law in Minnesota. :banghead:

 

[Monkeyleg]

I know that MN has may-issue concealed carry. But, still, you have 11,113 more permit holders than we do.

Good luck to you Minnesotans in this legislative session!

 

[cobb]

Well Monkeyleg, I hope you cheeseheads get it done so that you can put Minnesota to shame on the conceal carry permits.

 

[Chainsaw]

Dick, Are you going to be at the Fond Du Lac gunshow on the 18th-19th?----------Chainsaw

 

[Standing Wolf]

Go, Wisconsin, go!

 

[G-Raptor]

I'm being optimistic (and crossing my fingers) that Ohio, Wisconsin, and Missouri will go CCW this year. That will put the noose around Illinois - maybe then they will see the writing on the wall.

Of course, Ill-a-noy will be the LAST state to have CCW.


Good luck Wisconsin, I'm counting on you!!

 

[mpthole]

Hey g-raptor, cross your fingers for MN too. That would add 4 midwestern states to the list of shall-issue. I'm going to be optimistic (for once) and say that this is the year for both WI and MN to join the rest of the shall-issue states.

 

[Monkeyleg]

Chainsaw, the group that runs the Fond du Lac show doesn't allow any kind of political or legislative literature or activity at their shows. Hunter Rose and his group had to find that out the hard way last year.

Our first show will be at the state fair park in Milwaukee on Jan 31-Feb 2. We also have overlapping dates for other shows, so we'll be trying to grab every last volunteer that we can get. It's going to be a very hectic winter and spring.

BTW, based on the emails I've received in the last two days, I think I need to re-emphasize a point: my emails, and my posts here, are not based on my own admittedly amateurish political oddsmaking skills. They're based on the opinions of seasoned, hard-boiled legislators and lobbyists who have never before shown any optimism with regard to the concealed carry legislation.

Now these same hard-nosed political realists are saying that we can get it passed. In fact, one thinks that it can be passed by June or July.

The onus, however, is on those of us who want CCW. If we don't write, if we don't rally the troops, if we don't get out in force, then we'll be disappointed once again.

The machinations of former senate majority leader Chuck Chvala last March put a lot of people in a funk. The disappointment back then was more than palpable, and I worry that the people who were involved are too disheartened to try again.

You don't win your first time out of the political chute; Sarah Brady's shown us that. You win by coming back again and again, until the climate is just right.

Well, now that climate is right. We have our best opportunity ever. Please don't let a defeatist attitude take hold.

 

[foghornl]

Mokeyleg:
I hope you guys get CCW passed in Wisconsin. Another state with it will maybe help push CCW reform through here in Ohio.

And the only vote that Gov Booby 'flip-flop' Daft can count on from me is for his retirement.

 

[Strings]

Well...

... I won't go into what happened at Fondy last year here. It WASN'T a fun day...:banghead:

I WILL still be doing shows though, and trying to bring as many women to them as possible. That was a BIG help at GB: for SOME reason, guys at shows are FAR more willing to talk to women than men (to the extent that, the guys at the tables around the WCCA's complained when my wife and sis-in-law WEREN'T there)

Oh... Chainsaw... check your PMs...

 

[Gray Peterson]

Um...question:

What's going on with CCW reform? I can't find any information, and I'm hearing rumors that Senator Zien is refusing to introduce the bill for some reason.

Can Monkeyleg shed any light on this.

 

[F4GIB]

I wonder how well you'll do.

The Wisconsin Concealed Carry Association web page is horriably out of date. Most of the info on it is dated 01 or 02. I didn't see anything from 03.

 

[Monkeyleg]

F4GIB, there's been nothing to report. Here's what's going on:

Right now the concealed carry bill is being gone over by NRA attorneys who are trying to remove any language that could cause problems later on. Last year's bill had a provision that would have prohibited carry in any restaurant that serves alcohol. That's one of several provisions that are being re-written.

The budget process has taken priority over everything else in the legislature, including concealed carry. The right to hunt and trap amendment passed, and only took 45 minutes in the senate (most of which time was spent by a couple of Democrats complaining about taking time away from the budget negotiations). And some papers hammered the Republicans for bringing up the amendment when the more pressing issue of the budget was not finished.

So, introducing it now would be a mistake, since many supporters would vote to table it and get on with the budget. Once the budget stuff is over--which should be by June--it will be introduced. It's possible, though, that many legislators will go home after the grueling budget battle, and that it won't be until September that we get any action.

We're also in a holding pattern while we wait for a decision from the state supreme court in State vs. Hamdan (docket #010056). A WCCA volunteer--who's also an attorney with a background in constitutional law--sat in on the oral arguments back in November. His feeling was that the court would rule at least somewhat in our favor, based on the remarks of the justices. Others in Madison feel the same way, and I think some legislators are hoping that whatever decision the court hands down will help give the concealed carry bill more momentum.

The last thing that's delaying the introduction of the bill is the special elections for the senate seats vacated by Democrat Senators Shibilski and Grobschmidt, both of whom took cabinet positions in the Doyle administration. Shibilski's district is very pro-gun (as is Shibilski), and Grobschmidt generally voted pro-gun as well. If a pro-CCW candidate is elected in one or both of those districts, that will help in getting the required 22 votes in the senate to override a Doyle veto.

Right now the thinking is that there are enough votes to override, and that Doyle may just do nothing with the bill to avoid stirring up the legislature while he tries to reach on concensus on a number of issues. If he does nothing with the bill after passage in both houses, it automatically becomes law after thirty days.

Once we get a green light from "those in the know," we'll start the gun shows again and put pressure on the legislators.

Everyone concerned with the bill seems to feel very positive about its chances. One veteran gun lobbyist said he thought it would pass by June. That was before the delay, but the same optimism is holding, although it now may be September before the bill is introduced.

You're probably the third person this week who's mentioned the "no news" on our website. I'll re-write the above and have our webmaster post it to the site.

 

[El Tejon]

Yah, hey, dare, Wisconnnsinnn! Positive energy being directed nort.