PolitiFact Truth of Meter Responds to Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort Education Fund
This past weekend The Journal Sentinel and PolitFact Wisconsin offered a Truth-O-Meter on “People are five to seven times more likely to be murdered in workplaces that allow firearms than in those that prohibit it.”
We won’t go over the full study from WAVE (Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort Education Fund) or the Truth-O-Meter except to say it is worth a read, especially as it found this to be most half truths, and not as conclusive as the report suggests.
Wisconsin Firearm Owners: Pro-Second Amendment Advancements in Madison Wisconsin
Wisconsin Firearm Owners:
As the 2011 legislative session progresses, legislators are once again continuing their efforts to guarantee a person’s right to self-defense within the state.
Following in the same vein as the Personal Protection Act, the state House and Senate versions of “Castle Doctrine” self-defense legislation are expected to receive a full vote in their respective chambers early next week.
Also of note is the Department of Administration’s recent efforts to establish a policy which would allow permit holder to carry in the state capital for self-defense. Read more
NRA News: Wisconsin: Emergency Rules for Right-to-Carry Approved
Cam Edwards talks to Brent Gardner, NRA-ILA Wisconsin State Liaison - NRA News -
NRA News: Wisconsin: Questions Remain About Concealed Carry Law
Cam Edwards talks to Brent Gardner, NRA-ILA Wisconsin State Liaison
NRA: Wisconsin State Legislature Passes Landmark Right-to-Carry Legislation
Cam Edwards talks to Wisconsin State Assembly Majority Leader Rep. Scott Suder
SouthTown Star Asks “is Illinois just too timid to stand up to the gangbangers”
This week Phil Kadner offered his thoughts on how “Illinois may stand alone on concealed-carry law,” noting that Wisconsin’s Legislature passed a concealed-carry bill, making it the 49th state to allow its citizens to legally carry loaded guns.
By contrast it was noted that the Illinois House has passed similar legislation but Gov. Pat Quinn announced he would veto the bill. Kadner responds:
“So are we the last state willing to stand by its conviction that in a civilized society men and women should have no need to protect themselves with guns? Or is Illinois just too timid to stand up to the gangbangers, the common street criminals and the crazies, who don’t need a concealed-carry law to pack a gun?”
He also notes that carrying a gun may not actually deter crime:
“Yes, carrying a gun may someday save your life. But more guns will not make this country a better place to live.”
Few writers actually manage to get to both sides of the issue as well as Kadner did in his piece, and while we don’t agree with all his points, we think this is one worth reading.
CCRKBA APPLAUDS WISCONSIN LAWMAKERS FOR ADOPTING CONCEALED CARRY
The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms congratulated the Wisconsin Assembly for its 68-27 vote Tuesday that passed the state’s long-sought concealed carry measure, which Gov. Scott Walker has said he would sign.
“Badger State citizens have worked long and hard on this landmark accomplishment,” noted CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “We are delighted that the bill passed with an overwhelming bipartisan majority. Wisconsin was long overdue in this action. Now Wisconsin residents can enjoy the same rights as citizens in most other states. It is a pity, however, that this required a change in control of the state legislature and the governor’s office, a fact not lost on gun owners from coast to coast.”
Former Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat, had twice vetoed concealed carry legislation adopted by state lawmakers who would not override either veto, due to party partisanship.
“Not surprisingly,” Gottlieb noted, “gun prohibitionists have been predicting all kinds of calamity if concealed carry comes to the state. As we have seen in other states where such common-sense personal safety laws have been adopted, we’re confident that the good citizens of Wisconsin will soon prove those predictions were unfounded.
“It is disappointing,” he observed, “that some church leaders continue to criticize the legislation, and encourage fear of legally-armed citizens. They must have forgotten the victims of the March 2005 shooting in Brookfield during an evangelical church meeting, who could not defend themselves against Terry Ratzmann. Perhaps they also forgot that an armed private citizen, serving as a security volunteer, stopped a gunman from opening fire at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs in 2007.
“Wisconsin’s new law will enhance public safety,” Gottlieb concluded. “We have faith in Wisconsin citizens, who are no different than Americans in other states who already enjoy full exercise of their right to bear arms. This leaves only Illinois in the firearms rights dark ages, but we’re patient.”
Time: Dead Man Walker?
Our friends at Newsbusters caught this story. Apparently time magazine have run a story with the headline “Wisconsin’s Governor Wins But Is He Still Dead Man Walker?” The post from Noel Sheppard at Newsbusters notes that this is just two months are all the fuss about “violent rhetoric and imagery following the tragic Tucscon shootings that almost killed Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.).”
So where is the outrage now?
What is also notable is that the media has been mostly silent on the (barely) reported death threats to GOP State Senators, as well as the Republican Governor in Wisconsin. Where is the outrage, but where is the reporting?
Ironic Headline for Story About Gun Maker
We’re not sure if WQOW in Eau Claire, Wisconsin intended the pun in the headline, “Neighbors up in arms about possible gun manufacturer next door,” but it had us laughing. What wasn’t so funny was the reaction to Shane McVey’s plan to build custom firearms.
One neighbor was quoted as saying:
“When we say the word guns, it conotates difficulties in a residential area where there’s many many small children, you’ve got an elementary school, we just don’t feel that appropriate to have that kind of business in a residential area.”
OK, this is Wisconsin right? A state where people hunt, so is the neighbor really under the impression that there are no guns in a residential area?
The same neighbor, Dennis Knauf says that despite the fact that McVey would need to keep records of who he is selling to, to keep all the items secure, he doesn’t want the business in his backyard. He adds:
“There’s too many issues regarding safety, location. It just doesn’t need to be in a neighborhood.”
If McVey’s request to open his business is turned down we suggest he instead open an acid bath, slaughterhouse or some other business that would be so much better for the neighborhood.
Wisconsin Makes Straw Purchases a Felony
Some biased reporting from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, which reported how the state is pushing to make so-called straw purchases a felony. The paper already notes that this is, in fact, a felony already under federal law but only a misdemeanor under state law. The problem with this article is that it implies that this is a much more common occurrence, noting:
”The state would train its sights on the potentially deadly crime of straw purchasing – in which one person buys a firearm on behalf of a felon who can’t legally do so, under a bill approved Thursday by the Assembly.”
The paper further quotes Rep. Ann Hraychuck (D-Balsam Lake), the bill’s lead sponsor and a former sheriff, as saying, “Again and again, these felons are able to illegaly obtain a firemarm.” Is that statement even true? The mainstream reports that straw purchases are a major problem, but the evidence still shows otherwise. However, makign straw purchases a felony in Wisconsin is a good idea.
