Shooting Down Gun Laws

Milwaukee officials united behind a major new effort to reduce the devastation caused by handguns in Wisconsin until, inexplicably, some of those same officials began negotiating against themselves.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Police Chief Ed Flynn and Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm put together an impressively coordinated campaign against handgun violence after tracing the last six shootings of Milwaukee police officers back to one gun store in West Milwaukee.

Even a few pro-gun Republicans in the state Legislature voiced possible support for stronger laws to keep guns out of the hands of convicted felons and penalize “straw buyers” who purchase guns that immediately fall into the hands of criminals.

Since politicians all over America are notorious for their cowardice about voting for strong laws to control slaughter in the streets from handguns, for a brief moment it appeared a rare opportunity had arrived to pass meaningful legislation. Armed with evidence that Badger Guns in West Milwaukee had sold one-third of the guns traced from Milwaukee crimes over the last four years, Barrett proposed a series of tougher state laws against illegal sale and possession of handguns.

They included making multiple offenses of carrying concealed weapons felonies instead of misdemeanors, making it a felony to act as a “straw buyer” to purchase a gun illegally for a felon, requiring felons to stay 1,000 feet away from gun stores and requiring all gun thefts to be reported so the owners of guns used in crimes could not claim such thefts after the crimes were committed.

So far, so good. With Democrats controlling both houses of the Legislature and the governor’s office, finally there seemed to be a real possibility such common-sense measures might pass.

Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle twice before stood up to the pro-gun lobby by vetoing concealed carry laws passed by Republicans in the Legislature. And one possible candidate to succeed Doyle was none other than Barrett himself. The prospects for stronger state laws to reduce gun violence never looked better.

Then, a baffling thing happened. Chief Flynn and District Attorney Chisholm called a press conference to publicly throw in the towel on concealed carry.

As a result of a coordinated, state-by-state campaign by the National Rifle Association, Wisconsin and Illinois are the only two states in the country that still ban residents from obtaining permits for the concealed carry of deadly weapons.

The goofy NRA ideology claims more guns equal more public safety, when, in fact, the exact opposite is true.

In the vivid, B-movie imaginations of NRA supporters, criminals are afraid to rob or assault citizens in states allowing concealed carry because they never know when Granny is going to pull out a gun and plug them between the eyes.

In truth, people who point guns at other people are far more likely to use their guns if they fear their victims might be armed. And law-abiding citizens who pack heat aren’t nearly as quick on the draw or cavalier about shooting fellow human beings as bad guys.��

More deadly weapons on the street mean more deadly weapons on the street. The more handguns around to kill human beings, the more human beings will be killed.

Why Change Positions?

So why in the world would Flynn and Chisholm come out in favor of concealed carry when police officers and district attorneys across the state have been among the strongest forces against concealed carry?

Only the rare law enforcement official pandering to the right wing, such as Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, wants police officers to have to fear every citizen they stop is armed with a deadly weapon.

Flynn and Chisholm said they were willing to give up the ban on concealed carry in exchange for stronger background checks, laws controlling the sale of guns at gun shows and between individuals and tough restrictions on who should be permitted to carry a concealed weapon.

But why are these guys negotiating with themselves?

If they want tougher controls on private gun sales and gun shows, they should simply propose them.

As long as Wisconsin stands strong against concealed carry, there is no need to negotiate over who should be allowed to endanger their fellow citizens by carrying concealed weapons in public.

Doyle and the Democrats in the Legislature already showed they could stand up to the pro-gun lobby and not only survive politically, but actually increase their numbers in the Legislature.

So far, Barrett, part of a coalition of mayors across the country led by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg seeking tougher gun laws, stands firm against concealed carry.

Law enforcement officials from the state’s largest urban area, which experiences the most human destruction from handguns on its streets, should be the last ones to propose watering down their own anti-gun proposals.

REPLY TO THIS COMMENT

anonymous

Once again, a liberal talking head uses the "wild-west" argument against concealed carry. It is getting tiresome, but we must ask, once again, that those who oppose concealed carry provide even one single shred of hard evidence that concealed carry increases gun violence, or one instance in which a citizen with a concealed-carry permit used their weapon illegally. Just one, please! But there are no such examples. They don't exist. Tougher gun laws at gun shows? Absolutely- that is only common sense. But with tougher laws on criminals should come the increased ability for law-abiding citizens to exercise their right to bear arms. This quote: "people who point guns at other people are far more likely to use their guns if they fear their victims might be armed" is entirely fabricated and cannot be supported by facts. Again and again we see this bogus argument stated as fact.

I completely agree with you on that David. I Was going to ask for some evidence... I mean b movies? is that the only facts you have? How about the fact that in states where permitted conceled carry is allowed, gun crimes are lower on avereage. How about two cities in the US where hand guns are banned, the highest number of gun crimes exist. I'm not against backround checks, or tougher fines on criminals, or working to close the loopholes and avenues that allow felons to get guns. Just use the FACTS, and remember that when you make it harder to leagally buy guns, you're only hurting honest people, because criminals will find a weapon, one way or another. And you can back that with facts.

David, you must remember that Joel has never, repeat NEVER, relied on facts to write his drivel. Instead, he screams "we're all going to DIE." He's a two-bit hack, bounces around to get a column, and will soon flame out.

'The Right to Keep and Bare Arms Shall Not Be Infringed'. To me, this means PERIOD! You want a gun? Fine; I don't care if you've been convicted of a felony or anything else. Guns don't cause crime, criminals cause crime! If you commit a crime, you should be punished; after you have been punished, you should have all of your freedoms! If a convicted felon's crime is so bad that we wish to continue punishing her by restricting her freedoms, then WHY ARE WE LETTING HER OUT OF PRISON???

On Wednesday, I went to the Milw County DA's web site and sent the following email: John, NO, no no to concealed carry. There is no reason to acquiesce to the gun lobby. Hand guns have no purpose other than to take a life. They should be declared contraband, not promoted. What's more dangerous, heroin or a hand gun? There has been a well organized campaign to paint second hand smoke as a public health issue. That's how the anti-smoking group gained their victories over freedom of choice. I'm convinced that exposure to second hand smoke is not as harmful to my health as exposure to a hand gun. It takes years of exposure to a smoker to be affected. It takes an instant of exposure to a hand gun to die. Just as the anti-smoking forces created an issue of public health about second hand smoke, there must be a focus on hand guns as an issue of public health. I worked for Mike McCann for six years. I voted for you based on his endorsement. I'm beginning to feel that he and I may have been wrong.

Yes, I'm sure the millions of people who enjoy shooting sports are only out for blood. Just goes to show you that people like Blurondo argue on emotion and not fact. Have you ever handled a handgun? Ever shot one? Your snide comments prove that you lump in all gun owners with the thugs. Just answer me one thing: if concealed carry is such a bad thing, where are your statistics? YOU DON'T HAVE ANY.

I don't know where to begin. Ban guns, cool. That feels good don't it? WIll gun crimes go away no! Criminals aquire guns illegally. I can make a gun right now from commont materials at a hardware store. All you will do is great a bigger black market for weapons, which already exists. Say no to conceal and carry? why, criminals would never get the permit... why would a criminal submit to a background check and be on record as having a gun??? I lived in 2 states with conceal and carry, Both states don't have any more gun crime than this one. You want crimes to go away, you are looking at the wrong laws and rights to ammend. Make gun crimes harsher. People will just find other means to commit crimes if you ban guns. guns are a tool, and there are other tools that a criminal can use. In the end all you do is disarm law abiding citizens with no net gain. Remove guns from the world, we will go back to stabbing people with swords, It won't improve anything. Look at other countries with gun bans, they still have crime, and guess what the criminals have GUNS! how did they get them???

I have an idea, let's make Milwaukee a gun free zone like Virginia Tech, then we can close down Badger Guns and all the guns will go away. Look how well the Drug Free Zones have worked in our schools.

Wow –I was able to check off 37 of the top 40 most common stereotypical and hyperbolic anti-gun statements in just this one short article. Nicely done, Mr. McNally! Basically, any anti-gun article is just a mash up of these same statements, but in a different order each time: 1. major new effort 2. reduce the devastation 3. shootings of police officers (the people who do this are criminals anyway and pay no attention to laws) 4. handgun violence 5. stronger laws 6. keep guns out of the hands of convicted felons 7. penalize “straw buyers” 8. immediately fall into the hands of criminals 9. politicians notorious for their cowardice 10. control slaughter in the streets 11. rare opportunity 12. guns traced to crimes (less than 1% of the total population out there) 13. tougher state laws (as opposed to enforcing existing laws) 14. make carrying concealed weapons felonies 15. requiring all gun thefts to be reported 16. common-sense measures (common sense? This is all based on emotion) 17. pro-gun lobby (as opposed to personal protection) 18. reduce gun violence 19. throw in the towel on concealed carry (implies cc must always be bad) 20. coordinated campaign by the NRA (coordinating by other advocacy groups is OK, just not the NRA) 21. goofy NRA ideology 22. vivid, B-movie imaginations of NRA supporters (automatically dismiss all members as buffoons) 23. Granny is going to pull out a gun and plug them between the eyes (old west shoot-out analogy – > check) 24. people who point guns at other people are far more likely to use their guns if they fear their victims might be armed (patently false, they are generally cowards who want to avoid an equal foe) 25. quick on the draw (people carrying guns automatically become hotheaded…) 26. cavalier about shooting fellow human beings (…and disrespectful of life) 27. more deadly weapons on the street (here’s some news – they’re already there, but only the bad guys have them) 28. the more handguns around to kill human beings, the more human beings will be killed (patently false when these guns are in the right hands) 29. police and district attorneys oppose concealed carry (only the politicians within the ranks do, not the street officers) 30. law enforcement official pandering to the right wing (any opposition to the liberal must be pandering, as opposed to informed opinion) 31. police officers fear every citizen (fear, or is it respect?) 32. armed with a deadly weapon (what other kind of weapon is there?) 33. stand strong against concealed carry (why? ‘cause it is such a failure in the other 48 states?) 34. carrying concealed weapons in public (most people don’t need them in their house) 35. stand up to the pro-gun lobby (of course they are portrayed as inherently evil) 36. coalition of mayors seeking tougher laws (all democrats from big cities) 37. human destruction from handguns (as opposed to drug trafficking, which is the real root cause)

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Shooting Down Gun Laws

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