Monkeyleg
Member.
There's a fairly new organization in the state, WGO, that's been causing major headaches for those of us who want shall-issue concealed carry passed.
While Wisconsin Gun Owners (WGO) goals are laudible, they're also impossible: they want Wisconsin to go from one of only four states to prohibit concealed carry, to Vermont style carry.
On top of that, they claim that the permitting system is a gun registration scheme.
The problem is that the director, Corey Graff, has been harassing friends of ours in Madison. It's very conceivable that the WGO could actually put off legislators who in the past have supported concealed carry. WGO is almost doing more harm than the anti-gunners.
Given the fact that we're already facing a tough fight with Governor Doyle, WGO's actions are a real problem.
Here's the email they sent out today:
CONCEALED CARRY EMERGENCY!
Analysis of (anti-gun) Personal Protection Act (PPA) - concealed carry bill
WGO dubs it: "The Gun Owner Disarmament Act of 2005" ˆ NRA, state politicians
cut backroom deals for gun control bill, pass it off as concealed carry
October 3, 2005
Dear Second Amendment Friend:
This is a concealed carry emergency!
This alert is so important we're sending it out again in case you missed it:
That's because the Personal Protection Act (PPA) contains numerous gun control
concessions.
And while I'm pretty sure you're already a member of Wisconsin Gun Owners, Inc.
(WGO) - with our staff working around the clock to expose and fight the
anti-gun sections of this carry bill, I haven't had time to check for sure.
If your WGO membership is not active, DO NOT WAIT to join or renew - goto
http://www.wisconsingunowners.org and click on "join wgo" in the left hand
column for quick, safe and secure donation.
If you're not a WGO member, you need to join quick - to receive our Fall 2005
newsletter, The Wisconsin Gun Owner - to get the FULL story and strategy on how
we - along with our Washington D.C. equivalent Gun Owners of America (GOA) plan
to pass a REAL concealed carry law in our state.
Frankly, this is the fight we've really been preparing for ˆ and I'm afraid the
enemy is much closer than expected.
The draft of the Personal Protection Act (PPA) ˜ a shall-issue carry-by-permit
bill ˜ was finally reintroduced in the state legislature: And it is a gun
control monster - much WORSE than last session's bill.
The big delay, it turns out, was that politicians were busy adding an additional
gun control provision to the bill with two thumbs up from NRA lobbyists who
helped draft the bill (see H.R. 218 provision below).
And while WGO expected to see some anti-gun concessions, the bill was instead
HEAVILY loaded down with massive gun control.
Last session, activists from Wisconsin Gun Owners, Inc. (WGO) and Gun Owners of
America (GOA) lobbied state Representative Scott Gunderson (R-Union Grove) and
State Senator Dave Zien (R-Eau Claire) to remove gun owner registration
language which would register gun owners who applied for a permit to carry with
the state Department of Justice (DOJ).
Instead of listening to you ˆ your calls, petitions, e-mails - Gunderson and
Zien are rubbing your nose in it ˆ by EXPANDING DOJ's role in the concealed
carry permit process.
Apparently, to them, your opinion doesn't matter.
The 2003-04 previous version of the bill proposed that permits would be issued
by county sheriffs, with Department of Justice doing a criminal background
check and registering gun owners into a DOJ "computerized list."
WGO opposed that background check and gun owner registration list, saying it was
an infringement of the right to bear arms, and treated gun owners like
criminals.
It would also make passing a clean Vermont-Alaska-type bill later virtually
impossible.
Rather than remove that gun control, Zien and Gunderson - hailed as pro-gun
heroes by some, but responsible for authoring the PPA, one of the most
aggressive gun control bills to face Second Amendment proponents in some time ˜
now want DOJ to issue carry permits as well.
That means you will have to beg the FBI, BATFE and other historically anti-gun
bureaucracies under DOJ who will be graciously granting you your "right" to
bear arms permission slip.
As I told a reporter yesterday at the State Capital press conference: The real
issue isn‚t reduced crime (that‚s a tangential benefit to CCW) - the right to
bear arms is the ultimate check against governmental tyranny. If you give
government the ability to regulate that check and balance, you simply destroy
that check and balance.
That means that if the PPA as it is written becomes law, you will lose more of
your gun rights than you will gain.
In fact, many analysts believe multiple CCW issues being heard by the State
Supreme Court right now could result in "unintended consequences" ˆ ushering in
a Vermont/Alaska-type concealed carry law, in which no permits, lists, fees,
training requirements or other gun controls would be required to carry.
That would be an ideal situation: to repeal Wisconsin‚s misguided ban on
carrying concealed weapons outright.
On the other hand, by passing the PPA in its current form, gun owners may be
jeopardizing their chances of ever restoring their right to bear arms fully in
this state.
But State Senator Dave Zien is using the possibility of a Vermont-carry case law
precedent coming down from the State Supreme Court as a threat to usher in the
PPA (and all its anti-gun provisions) ˆ indicating to many analysts that he and
other so-called "pro-gun" politicians oppose Vermont-carry, despite their
claims.
Here‚s what state politicians don't want you to know about the Personal
Protection Act:
? The draft bill will create a massive, EXPANDED gun owner registration
scheme with the state Department of Justice (DOJ) ˆ giving government agents
full access to the list of names of anyone they deem 'suspicious.' And you can
bet these agencies ˜ who routinely redefine what constitutes a "terrorist" in
the hysteria of the day ˜ will regard people who carry guns as a threat.
Prepare to be regarded as extremist.
? The draft bill will give cops who pull you over an instant alert that
you are a permit holder and may be armed. The Appleton, Wisconsin police chief
has already said that he will inform his officers to "draw their weapons" on
all permit holders detained during routine traffic stops. Obviously this
militates strongly against the DOJ list and permit system in favor of a clean
Vermont bill, but apparently the authors of the bill don't think you're smart
enough to figure that out.
? The draft bill will create vast new NO-CARRY AREAS in which you may not
enter if you are armed. If you enter one of these NO GUN OWNERS ALLOWED areas
unintentionally or to help someone being attacked, you could be prosecuted and
face imprisonment and permanent confiscation of ALL your guns ˆ not just your
carry sidearm. The authors of the PPA are also encouraging business owners to
post "No Carry Allowed" signs ˆ stigmatizing law-abiding gun owners in a
segregation-like atmosphere.
? The draft bill will create the state framework to implement H.R. 218 ˆ
the "Retired Cops-Only" concealed carry federal bill. Cops-only concealed carry
is opposed by over two dozen staunch gun rights organizations because it
creates special classes of citizens, elevating the value of the life of a
retired police officer above that of "ordinary" citizens ˆ a typical situation
under totalitarian regimes, not a free constitutional republic.
? State politicians and NRA lobbyists cut these backroom deals without
consulting WGO or GOA ˆ knowing full well grassroots gun owners would oppose
the language. When pressed today about this, State Senator Dave Zien dodged the
issue and double-spoke, saying, "Well, at least it's introduced now." If the
draft bill becomes law without removing the gun control provisions, a dangerous
precedent will be set in which politicians will not heed the admonitions of
their pro-gun constituents but instead will cut backroom gun control deals with
NRA leadership for small gains and huge gun rights losses.
A few hours after introduction of the draft, the Wisconsin Concealed Carry
Association (WCCA) issued a statement that these gun control changes are
"important."
Regretably, we cannot count on the institutional gun lobby to clean up this
bill.
I hope you agree with WGO that these changes ˆ which make last session's bad CCW
bill look mild by comparison ˆ are in fact deplorable, even unacceptable.
So you and I are the only force standing in the way of what we're more
appropriately calling the "Gun Owner Disarmament Act of 2005."
If you don't believe that creating a government list of gun owners can be
abused, then you must not have noticed that New Orleans police and BATFE agents
conducted door-to-door gun confiscations just a couple weeks ago: victimizing
the victims.
Creating a list of avid pro-gun people who are sure to own guns (and know how to
use them) is exactly the type of list which will be abused in "times of crisis"
to disarm you by force.
We must clean up the PPA. We must pass CLEAN concealed carry.
There simply is no other option.
To do so, be prepared for the political fight of your life - and vital action
alerts very soon.
ACTION:
If your WGO membership isn't active, you simply aren't in the fight.
If you are a WGO member, prepare to hunker down in the trenches.
Corey Graff, Executive Director
P.S. - WGO is a 501(c)4 non profit organization and the ONLY gun rights
organization in Wisconsin endorsed by Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America.
That's because when it comes to your gun rights, we will NEVER be bought off
and will NEVER budge an inch. The PPA in its current form is simply too
insulting for words, but we need you to make sure your WGO membership is active
- so we can alert you with mail action alerts that will be critical to fighting
the gun control provisions politicians seem intent on sneaking past you and
grassroots gun owners. Please join today if you haven't already. Time is not a
luxury we have. If your membership is active, accept my thanks in advance. If
not, Join Now: http://www.wisconsingunowners.org
P.P.S - If you're a supporter of gun control and would like to be removed from
this list, simply reply with "Remove" in the subject line.
Corey Graff, Executive Director
Wisconsin Gun Owners Inc.
P.O. Box 338
Green Bay, WI 54305
http://www.wisconsingunowners.org
[phone] 888.202.1645
[fax] 866.208.1346
[e-mail] [email protected]
"Wisconsin's Only No-Compromise Gun Rights Organization"
While Wisconsin Gun Owners (WGO) goals are laudible, they're also impossible: they want Wisconsin to go from one of only four states to prohibit concealed carry, to Vermont style carry.
On top of that, they claim that the permitting system is a gun registration scheme.
The problem is that the director, Corey Graff, has been harassing friends of ours in Madison. It's very conceivable that the WGO could actually put off legislators who in the past have supported concealed carry. WGO is almost doing more harm than the anti-gunners.
Given the fact that we're already facing a tough fight with Governor Doyle, WGO's actions are a real problem.
Here's the email they sent out today:
CONCEALED CARRY EMERGENCY!
Analysis of (anti-gun) Personal Protection Act (PPA) - concealed carry bill
WGO dubs it: "The Gun Owner Disarmament Act of 2005" ˆ NRA, state politicians
cut backroom deals for gun control bill, pass it off as concealed carry
October 3, 2005
Dear Second Amendment Friend:
This is a concealed carry emergency!
This alert is so important we're sending it out again in case you missed it:
That's because the Personal Protection Act (PPA) contains numerous gun control
concessions.
And while I'm pretty sure you're already a member of Wisconsin Gun Owners, Inc.
(WGO) - with our staff working around the clock to expose and fight the
anti-gun sections of this carry bill, I haven't had time to check for sure.
If your WGO membership is not active, DO NOT WAIT to join or renew - goto
http://www.wisconsingunowners.org and click on "join wgo" in the left hand
column for quick, safe and secure donation.
If you're not a WGO member, you need to join quick - to receive our Fall 2005
newsletter, The Wisconsin Gun Owner - to get the FULL story and strategy on how
we - along with our Washington D.C. equivalent Gun Owners of America (GOA) plan
to pass a REAL concealed carry law in our state.
Frankly, this is the fight we've really been preparing for ˆ and I'm afraid the
enemy is much closer than expected.
The draft of the Personal Protection Act (PPA) ˜ a shall-issue carry-by-permit
bill ˜ was finally reintroduced in the state legislature: And it is a gun
control monster - much WORSE than last session's bill.
The big delay, it turns out, was that politicians were busy adding an additional
gun control provision to the bill with two thumbs up from NRA lobbyists who
helped draft the bill (see H.R. 218 provision below).
And while WGO expected to see some anti-gun concessions, the bill was instead
HEAVILY loaded down with massive gun control.
Last session, activists from Wisconsin Gun Owners, Inc. (WGO) and Gun Owners of
America (GOA) lobbied state Representative Scott Gunderson (R-Union Grove) and
State Senator Dave Zien (R-Eau Claire) to remove gun owner registration
language which would register gun owners who applied for a permit to carry with
the state Department of Justice (DOJ).
Instead of listening to you ˆ your calls, petitions, e-mails - Gunderson and
Zien are rubbing your nose in it ˆ by EXPANDING DOJ's role in the concealed
carry permit process.
Apparently, to them, your opinion doesn't matter.
The 2003-04 previous version of the bill proposed that permits would be issued
by county sheriffs, with Department of Justice doing a criminal background
check and registering gun owners into a DOJ "computerized list."
WGO opposed that background check and gun owner registration list, saying it was
an infringement of the right to bear arms, and treated gun owners like
criminals.
It would also make passing a clean Vermont-Alaska-type bill later virtually
impossible.
Rather than remove that gun control, Zien and Gunderson - hailed as pro-gun
heroes by some, but responsible for authoring the PPA, one of the most
aggressive gun control bills to face Second Amendment proponents in some time ˜
now want DOJ to issue carry permits as well.
That means you will have to beg the FBI, BATFE and other historically anti-gun
bureaucracies under DOJ who will be graciously granting you your "right" to
bear arms permission slip.
As I told a reporter yesterday at the State Capital press conference: The real
issue isn‚t reduced crime (that‚s a tangential benefit to CCW) - the right to
bear arms is the ultimate check against governmental tyranny. If you give
government the ability to regulate that check and balance, you simply destroy
that check and balance.
That means that if the PPA as it is written becomes law, you will lose more of
your gun rights than you will gain.
In fact, many analysts believe multiple CCW issues being heard by the State
Supreme Court right now could result in "unintended consequences" ˆ ushering in
a Vermont/Alaska-type concealed carry law, in which no permits, lists, fees,
training requirements or other gun controls would be required to carry.
That would be an ideal situation: to repeal Wisconsin‚s misguided ban on
carrying concealed weapons outright.
On the other hand, by passing the PPA in its current form, gun owners may be
jeopardizing their chances of ever restoring their right to bear arms fully in
this state.
But State Senator Dave Zien is using the possibility of a Vermont-carry case law
precedent coming down from the State Supreme Court as a threat to usher in the
PPA (and all its anti-gun provisions) ˆ indicating to many analysts that he and
other so-called "pro-gun" politicians oppose Vermont-carry, despite their
claims.
Here‚s what state politicians don't want you to know about the Personal
Protection Act:
? The draft bill will create a massive, EXPANDED gun owner registration
scheme with the state Department of Justice (DOJ) ˆ giving government agents
full access to the list of names of anyone they deem 'suspicious.' And you can
bet these agencies ˜ who routinely redefine what constitutes a "terrorist" in
the hysteria of the day ˜ will regard people who carry guns as a threat.
Prepare to be regarded as extremist.
? The draft bill will give cops who pull you over an instant alert that
you are a permit holder and may be armed. The Appleton, Wisconsin police chief
has already said that he will inform his officers to "draw their weapons" on
all permit holders detained during routine traffic stops. Obviously this
militates strongly against the DOJ list and permit system in favor of a clean
Vermont bill, but apparently the authors of the bill don't think you're smart
enough to figure that out.
? The draft bill will create vast new NO-CARRY AREAS in which you may not
enter if you are armed. If you enter one of these NO GUN OWNERS ALLOWED areas
unintentionally or to help someone being attacked, you could be prosecuted and
face imprisonment and permanent confiscation of ALL your guns ˆ not just your
carry sidearm. The authors of the PPA are also encouraging business owners to
post "No Carry Allowed" signs ˆ stigmatizing law-abiding gun owners in a
segregation-like atmosphere.
? The draft bill will create the state framework to implement H.R. 218 ˆ
the "Retired Cops-Only" concealed carry federal bill. Cops-only concealed carry
is opposed by over two dozen staunch gun rights organizations because it
creates special classes of citizens, elevating the value of the life of a
retired police officer above that of "ordinary" citizens ˆ a typical situation
under totalitarian regimes, not a free constitutional republic.
? State politicians and NRA lobbyists cut these backroom deals without
consulting WGO or GOA ˆ knowing full well grassroots gun owners would oppose
the language. When pressed today about this, State Senator Dave Zien dodged the
issue and double-spoke, saying, "Well, at least it's introduced now." If the
draft bill becomes law without removing the gun control provisions, a dangerous
precedent will be set in which politicians will not heed the admonitions of
their pro-gun constituents but instead will cut backroom gun control deals with
NRA leadership for small gains and huge gun rights losses.
A few hours after introduction of the draft, the Wisconsin Concealed Carry
Association (WCCA) issued a statement that these gun control changes are
"important."
Regretably, we cannot count on the institutional gun lobby to clean up this
bill.
I hope you agree with WGO that these changes ˆ which make last session's bad CCW
bill look mild by comparison ˆ are in fact deplorable, even unacceptable.
So you and I are the only force standing in the way of what we're more
appropriately calling the "Gun Owner Disarmament Act of 2005."
If you don't believe that creating a government list of gun owners can be
abused, then you must not have noticed that New Orleans police and BATFE agents
conducted door-to-door gun confiscations just a couple weeks ago: victimizing
the victims.
Creating a list of avid pro-gun people who are sure to own guns (and know how to
use them) is exactly the type of list which will be abused in "times of crisis"
to disarm you by force.
We must clean up the PPA. We must pass CLEAN concealed carry.
There simply is no other option.
To do so, be prepared for the political fight of your life - and vital action
alerts very soon.
ACTION:
If your WGO membership isn't active, you simply aren't in the fight.
If you are a WGO member, prepare to hunker down in the trenches.
Corey Graff, Executive Director
P.S. - WGO is a 501(c)4 non profit organization and the ONLY gun rights
organization in Wisconsin endorsed by Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America.
That's because when it comes to your gun rights, we will NEVER be bought off
and will NEVER budge an inch. The PPA in its current form is simply too
insulting for words, but we need you to make sure your WGO membership is active
- so we can alert you with mail action alerts that will be critical to fighting
the gun control provisions politicians seem intent on sneaking past you and
grassroots gun owners. Please join today if you haven't already. Time is not a
luxury we have. If your membership is active, accept my thanks in advance. If
not, Join Now: http://www.wisconsingunowners.org
P.P.S - If you're a supporter of gun control and would like to be removed from
this list, simply reply with "Remove" in the subject line.
Corey Graff, Executive Director
Wisconsin Gun Owners Inc.
P.O. Box 338
Green Bay, WI 54305
http://www.wisconsingunowners.org
[phone] 888.202.1645
[fax] 866.208.1346
[e-mail] [email protected]
"Wisconsin's Only No-Compromise Gun Rights Organization"
