Racine to oppose concealed weapons bill

Milwaukee Journal Sentinal ^ | Aug. 28, 2003 | TOM KERTSCHER

[jdege]

Racine to oppose concealed weapons bill

By TOM KERTSCHER
tkertscher@journalsentinel.com
Last Updated: Aug. 28, 2003

Racine - In what may be the first action of its kind in the country, a Racine alderman said Thursday that the Racine Common Council will approve a resolution opposing legislation to allow Wisconsin residents to carry concealed weapons.

Two national organizations that also oppose concealed carry say it would be the first time a U.S. city has formally opposed such a bill.

But state Rep. Scott Gunderson (R-Waterford), one of the sponsors of the weapons bill, said it will easily pass the Legislature and be sent to Gov. Jim Doyle in October. Doyle has expressed opposition to the so-called concealed-carry proposal, but Gunderson said he is not assuming the governor will veto the bill.

Racine Ald. Pete Karas said he will introduce his resolution to the Racine Common Council on Tuesday and the council likely will vote on it Sept. 16. A majority on the 15-member council already supports the resolution, given that seven have signed on as co-sponsors, he said.

Karas said the resolution is not an anti-gun statement but opposes the concealed-carry proposal because it would lead to more gun crimes and gun accidents. The resolution is important because it will underscore how most Wisconsin residents oppose allowing concealed weapons to be carried, he said.

Karas agreed that the Legislature is likely to approve the bill, but said he expects Doyle to veto it. He said he wants to build opposition in case the Legislature would attempt to override a veto.

Gunderson acknowledged that polls have indicated most Wisconsin residents oppose a concealed-carry law. But he said that is only in the abstract, and that once people learn that the bill requires weapons training, an FBI background check and the issuance of a permit, they support the measure, he said.

Spokesmen for two Washington, D.C.-based national organizations that oppose concealed-carry - the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence - said they believe no American city has formally opposed a concealed carry bill before it was enacted into law.

Cities have tried to restrict concealed-carry laws, "but this is the first time that I know of a city that got ahead of the curve," said Khalid Pitts, state director of the coalition.

Richard Baker, treasurer of the Greenfield-based Wisconsin Concealed Carry Association, which was formed to support the bill, said opposition such as the Racine resolution is misplaced because 44 states already allow concealed weapons to be carried.

"At this point it's kind of like having this huge debate over issuing people drivers licenses and having them go out on the road," he said.

[jdege]

Spokesmen for two Washington, D.C.-based national organizations that oppose concealed-carry - the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence - said they believe no American city has formally opposed a concealed carry bill before it was enacted into law.

Oh?

City Council votes to oppose 'concealed carry' measure

[jdege]

Bang!

[Chemist_Geek]

Karas said the resolution is not an anti-gun statement but opposes the concealed-carry proposal because it would lead to more gun crimes and gun accidents.

Hey, two lies for the price of one!

[Dan from Michigan]

Sounds like East Lansing.

That said, from what I know, I THINK the city of Racine isn't the nicest town around.

[mvpel]

We need to bury them in JPFO booklets such as "Gun Control is Racist."

[facedown]

Hey, two lies for the price of one!

And a third, just for good measure.

The resolution is important because it will underscore how most Wisconsin residents oppose allowing concealed weapons to be carried, he said.

[jdege]

Wisconsin residents oppose allowing concealed weapons to be carried,

Which is why, after the Democrat-controlled Senate boxed up the bill last session, preventing a vote, they elected enough more Republicans to put them in control of the Senate, this session.

[Imal]

Karas said the resolution is not an anti-gun statement but opposes the concealed-carry proposal because it would lead to more gun crimes and gun accidents.

The fact that it has had exactly the opposite effect in dozens of states where it's been legal for years does not seem to have influenced this decision. Where knowledge is abandoned, ignorance must suffice, I suppose.

But then, "gun control" has never been about truth, crime or safety anyway, but simply about control.

[ampat]

IS Wisconsin the next Kalifornia?

[BenLurkin]

They can't possibly be so obtuse as to think disarming citizens makes the citizens safer. My guess is that they are just another nest of confiscation kooks.

[Chemist_Geek]

Racine, WI has 415 robberies per 100,000 people; 27 rapes per 100,000; five homicides per 100,000; 299 aggravated assaults per 100,000 people, annually, according to the realtor.com relocation database.

How many of those victims wouldn't be, had they had the ability to legally carry concealed firearms?

[jdege]

IS Wisconsin the next Kalifornia?

Wisconsin is the next Minnesota - the soon-to-be 36th shall-issue state (unless Missouri over-rides One-Time-Bob's veto, and gets it done first.)

Minnesota and Wisconsin were the liberal twins - states initially settled in by German socialists fleeing the failed revolution of 1848, and which have always had a leftist flavor to their politics.

But both have recently turned solidly Republican, and the liberals don't like it, at all.

[MediaMole]

IS Wisconsin the next Kalifornia?

We'll see. Jim Doyle is Gray Davis without the anchorman hair. As attorney general, he proposed an anti-terrorism bill that would have banned all ammunition that could be used in a weapon capable of firing more than one shot.

On the plus side, the State Supreme Court just loosened the ban on carrying a concealed weapon and recommended that a new law be passed. (Previously it had been illegal to carry concealed even in your own home.) Any CCW law needs to be passed with a veto-proof majority, since Doyle will veto it and lean on the Dims to sustain the veto.

[paul51]

I'm soooo sick of these misguided gunphobic nitwits telling people they don't have the right to defend themselves. I wish all fed up responsible and law abiding gun owners would get organized in a mass demonstration of defiance.

[July 4th]

But both have recently turned solidly Republican, and the liberals don't like it, at all.

I definitely wouldn't say that. We have a Dem governor, two Dem Senators, and the state houses tend to flip back and forth between Dems and Reps. (We've got both right now though.) I would say if Wisconsin is solidly anything, it's very conservative Democrat. A lot of the northern counties, where it's basically farms and forest either vote Republican or generally pro-gun Democrat. This is why the Republicans believe concealed carry will pass here. The northern pro-gun Dems would likely join the Republicans in a veto override, and the Dem governor wouldn't want to risk total embarassment.

[stevio]

These people have to get their head out of their @$$. The majority of states have some sort of CCW with none of these ominous scenarios.

[knuthom]

That said, from what I know, I THINK the city of Racine isn't the nicest town around.

I agree and I grew up there.

[jdege]

Minnesota passed shall-issue with a Republican House, a Republican Governor, and a Senate with a narrow DFL edge.

Wisconsin has a Republican House and Senate - so the tricks that were necessary to force a floor vote in the Minnesota Senate will not be necessary, but a Democratic governor, so a veto is possible.

I'm not at all certain that Wisconsin can override a veto, right now. But I am certain that if they do not, the pro-gun forces are going to win considerably, in the 2004 election.

[Vic3O3]

Gee, liberal Wisconsin gets it wrong again...

[SauronOfMordor]

Racine, WI has 415 robberies per 100,000 people; 27 rapes per 100,000; five homicides per 100,000; 299 aggravated assaults per 100,000 people, annually, according to the realtor.com relocation database.

The opposition of "inner-city"-type politicians makes more sense when you take into account that CCW results in the MIDDLE-CLASS being armed, which has certain implications:

1. The (voting) underclass will mostly not be in a position to take advantage of CCW due to criminal record
2. The (voting) underclass will be more at risk when they attempt to prey on the middle class
3. The gang-bangers and drug dealers will be less able to intimidate armed, law-abiding neighbors into accepting their activities
4. The middle-class suburbs will no longer be able to be blackmailed into approving more "social spending" in order to avoid a "long hot summer". Their attitude is likely to change to "OK, #%$!#'s, bring it on!"

[Area51]

Karas said the resolution is not an anti-gun statement but opposes the concealed-carry proposal because it would lead to more gun crimes and gun accidents.

---

Funny thing facts. Seems to be missing in the gun debate from the liberals.

38 or 39 states and the wild west hasn't returned. But, I chicago where guns are outlawed wackos go on a shooting spree.

Yeah boys, tell your lies. We know the facts.

[Nephi]

Isn't this reminiscient of Sharon Stone putting a sign in her front yard saying, "Gun free residence"?

[South40]

[Con X-Poser]

<< if Wisconsin is solidly anything, it's very conservative Democrat >>

The PEOPLE may be conservative Democrats, but the office holders are LIBERAL Democrats. On the guise of being for "the working man", the working man keeps voting in liberal idiots who tax him to death and control his every move.

[Wilhelm Tell]

Karas said the resolution is not an anti-gun statement but opposes the concealed-carry proposal because it would lead to more gun crimes and gun accidents.

Everyone knows the surest way to fight crime is to make it so only criminals carry guns. And the surest road to "gun safety" is to only let doofus drunks and gang-bangers carry guns.

[dpwiener]

That said, from what I know, I THINK the city of Racine isn't the nicest town around.
I agree and I grew up there.

I also agree and I also grew up in Racine. It's not the worst town or anything, but it definitely has its problems. I much prefer living in Simi Valley, California, which is the safest city in the nation (for populations over 100,000). And even though California allows localities to stonewall the issuance of concealed carry permits, Simi Valley has been reasonably liberal about providing them (following some public pressure a few years ago).

[Abe Froman]

I drove through Racine many times on my way to or from a winter BMX race in Elkhorn. We even stayed in a motel in Racine once or twice. It didn't seem out of the ordinary, but then I didn't know it was filled with socialist utopians at the time.