Posted on 02/04/2004 10:39:39 AM PST by TheEaglehasLanded
Milwaukee - 02.04.04
By now you know that the veto override fell short by just one vote. What happened yesterday is very interesting, and demonstrates what we need to do to get a concealed carry bill passed.
The Assembly went into session at about 11am and, as usual, the two parties went into caucus. However, the Democrats stayed in caucus for several hours, a sign that the Democrat leadership didn't know if they had the votes to sustain Governor Doyle's veto. Early in the afternoon, word filtered out that the Democrat leadership was putting pressure on Representative Barbara Gronemus, one of the staunch supporters of the bill. This was yet another sign that they didn't know if they could prevent an override.
At about 2pm, Representative Sherman's office called Darren LaSorte, our state's NRA lobbyist, asking to meet with him. For weeks Representative Sherman had refused to meet with the NRA. The call for a meeting was a potentially good sign. In the end, however, Representative Sherman just wanted to be able to say that he'd heard all sides.
At 4pm the Democrats came out of caucus, and debate began. The debate was, for the most part, polite and subdued, with the exception of the antics of the virulently anti-gun Democrat Representative Boyle of Superior.
When the vote finally came at about 5pm, Representative Gary Sherman finally made his position public by casting the deciding vote to uphold Doyle's veto. This is a man who voted for the bill in 2002, signed his name to the bill last June as a co-sponsor, voted for the bill last November, wrote a lengthy article in the Ashland newspaper about how important it was that Wisconsin join the other 46 states in giving citizens the right to self-defense, and who promised to vote his principles.
In the end, though, he sold out his constituents. He sold out the people of Wisconsin who were counting on him to restore a right that was taken from the people of Wisconsin in 1873. He sold out his own record. In short, he sold his principles to Governor Doyle.
This is the nature of ugly partisan politics, and it demonstrates why we must change the balance of power in Madison.
Representative Gunderson and Senator Zien have promised to introduce another bill next year, a better bill with less restrictions than the one that was passed in November.
In order to get that bill passed, though, we must first recognize that there are Democrats for whom party loyalty is more important than the right of law-abiding citizens to defend themselves. If the balance of power stays as it is in Madison, we will see another repeat of yesterday next year.
We need to throw out of office those Democrats for whom the Second Amendment and the Right to Keep and Bear Arms are just part of the usual empty campaign slogans. We need to eliminate those Democrats who proclaim to be all for gun rights but, when the rubber meets the road, are nowhere to be found.
In short, we need to replace those Democrats with solid pro-gun, pro-concealed carry Republicans so that we can override a Doyle veto without having to go begging to the likes of Gary Sherman.
Representative Gunderson made every conceivable concession to the Democrats in the assembly to get their support, and he was stabbed in the back.
Next year we cannot allow that to happen again. We need to begin right now to change the balance of power in our favor.
To that end, our group will be sending out an email in a few days, asking for donations to our political action committee, the Wisconsin Concealed Carry Movement.
We know that many people on our alert lists don't like to receive emails asking for donations. In fact, we've never asked for donations before in our emails at all. But yesterday showed that we need to utilize every weapon in our arsenal, and fund-raising for candidates is indeed one of those weapons. So, please recognize just how serious these calls for donations will be.
In the meantime, regardless of yesterday's defeat, everyone should be proud of the progress we've made. Eleven years ago, Representative Gunderson and Senator Zien began work on a concealed carry bill that never even got introduced. For years it languished in a legislative black hole while Democrats controlled both the assembly and senate. Five years ago we had public hearings, but no vote. Two years ago we got a vote in the assembly, but no vote in the senate. This year we came within just one vote of making the bill into law.
Next year, with your help, we will go all the way.
Thank you for all of your phone calls, your letters to legislators, and your hard work on this cause. With your continued commitment, rest assured that we will win.
I almost looked that up hoping to learn a new word. LOL!
This should be recognized as a 'given', concerning any bill, local, State, National.
To democrats, power trumps all.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.