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As it should have been(Wisconsin Open Carry, positive!)
Journal Times.com ^ | 25 May, 2009 | Editorial Board

Posted on 05/25/2009 4:20:38 PM PDT by marktwain

“Gun!”

We knew that would get your attention. Guns — and gun laws — have a way of doing that in this state.

That’s never been more true than in recent weeks after state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen issued a memo to state district attorneys saying that openly carrying a handgun in public isn’t automatically a crime.

In short order, gun-rights advocates were planning open-carry picnics like the one in an Onalaska park last weekend where hamburgers and holstered sidearms were the order of the day. Both were served up with relish.

It was, according to news accounts from the La Crosse Tribune, a “sober and nonflamboyant group that assembled in a neighborhood park adjacent to Marvin Gardens subdivision.” No Rambos or Dirty Harrys in evidence among the 200 people in attendance, the paper said.

Van Hollen’s informal opinion wasn’t universally greeted with open arms, of course. Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, who twice vetoed concealed carry laws for Wisconsin, sniffed that the state should allow communities to pass ordinances that are more restrictive than state gun regulation laws.

And Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn responded by saying, “My message to my troops is if you see anybody carrying a gun on the streets of Milwaukee, we’ll put them on the ground, take the gun away and then decide whether you have the right to carry it.”

Racine, good news town that it is, had to figure into the gunplay, of course, and did so shortly after Van Hollen’s decision when a 42-year-old bicyclist scared off four teens he believed were trying to rob him. The bicyclist rode by the teens in the 1100 block of Grand Avenue. and was knocked from his bike. According to reports, he pulled a revolver that he was openly carrying in a side holster, held it in the air and yelled, “Gun!” The teens then scattered.

The man then flagged down a police car and told them what happened. He was escorted to his home and the police return his gun to him — but referred the incident to the Racine County District Attorney’s office to determine if a prosecution was warranted for having a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school.

After several days of deliberation, the District Attorney’s office said it wouldn’t prosecute, citing the Attorney General’s opinion, the man’s lack of a criminal record and “no showing of irresponsible use of the firearm.”

That’s as it should have been.

The bicyclist case was actually a poster-boy situation for what gun-rights advocates have been saying for years — that firearms can and should be used for self-defense. This was a case with a good outcome: no one was shot, and an honest citizen protected himself from being robbed.

That’s just one case, of course, but it is one case where it worked.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: Wisconsin
KEYWORDS: banglist; ccw; opencarry; wi
I would not have expected this editorial. Maybe they see the way the wind is blowing.
1 posted on 05/25/2009 4:20:40 PM PDT by marktwain
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To: marktwain
And Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn responded by saying, “My message to my troops is if you see anybody carrying a gun on the streets of Milwaukee, we’ll put them on the ground, take the gun away and then decide whether you have the right to carry it.”

Cities like this are lucky I'm not a billionaire, because I'd spend my spare time suing their @$$*$ off. And then I'd give the settlement to the NRA.

2 posted on 05/25/2009 4:29:55 PM PDT by FlyVet
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To: FlyVet

“Chiefs” like Ed Flynn make me sick. Too many of them are liberal politicians and not cops.


3 posted on 05/25/2009 4:41:46 PM PDT by Cap'n Crunch (Rush Limbaugh, the Winston Churchill of our time)
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To: Cap'n Crunch

Personally, I wouldn’t open-carry in a downtown, because it’s understandable that it would freak some people out these days. However, if it’s legal, it’s legal, and the arrogant jerk police chief and mayor and city council don’t get to take the law into their own hands any more than I do. Screw them.


4 posted on 05/25/2009 4:50:31 PM PDT by FlyVet
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To: FlyVet

Look like mr flynn needs to have his a$$ fired and replaced with someone with some common sense. People like this have taken the authority that was given them to extremes, and with the “I’ll show you by God” attitude, they are under the assumption that they are above the law and will do what they want irregardless.... Guess again “bunkie”. He probably has plans to run for congress.


5 posted on 05/25/2009 4:56:21 PM PDT by Slimey
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To: Cap'n Crunch

Flynn came to Milwaukee from Massachusetts.


6 posted on 05/25/2009 5:14:40 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (I'd like to tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.)
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To: marktwain
do they have Bar-B-Que guns in WI???
7 posted on 05/25/2009 5:28:56 PM PDT by Chode (American Hedonist - Obama is basically Jim Jones with a teleprompter)
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To: Chode
Well, they have guns at Bar-B-Ques!
8 posted on 05/25/2009 5:39:36 PM PDT by marktwain
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To: marktwain
a BBQ gun is usually a VERY fancy / expensive gun usually only worn at BBQ's and such...
9 posted on 05/25/2009 5:42:08 PM PDT by Chode (American Hedonist - Obama is basically Jim Jones with a teleprompter)
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To: Chode
I expect they will start showing up soon, now. Glocks are just not as, well, suitable for embellishment. Perhaps some fancy grips on large revolvers, lots of (tasteful) engraving, or merely expensive firearms would do. As you have more experience with these things, maybe you could give us some ideas about what is considered in good taste.
10 posted on 05/25/2009 5:54:58 PM PDT by marktwain
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To: Secret Agent Man

Ain’t it a shame that a state with so much patriot history (Mass) is one of the first trying to take away rights?

Flynn... an Irishman no less. He should know better.


11 posted on 05/25/2009 6:04:10 PM PDT by Cap'n Crunch (Rush Limbaugh, the Winston Churchill of our time)
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To: FlyVet
spend my spare time suing their @$$*$ off.

of all the 'strawman' crap the commies pull on honest dealers & such, it'd be only fitting to setup these dillholes for a major suit...

12 posted on 05/25/2009 6:19:45 PM PDT by Gilbo_3 ("JesusChrist 08"...Trust in the Lord......=...LiveFReeOr Die...)
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To: marktwain
i only saw it once in Texas long ago... just about everybody was wearing a gun but some of the guns only came out for Bar-B-Ques cause they cost so much. but this is nice

i guess i just liked the idea...

13 posted on 05/25/2009 6:41:36 PM PDT by Chode (American Hedonist - Obama is basically Jim Jones with a teleprompter)
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