Posted on 03/25/2009 4:35:02 AM PDT by marktwain
This is the first in a series of three articles I will write concerning your newly restored right to go armed in public. In this article I will cover the very basics that you must to know – this is just the beginning. The next article I will explain the judicious use of lethal force when the law says you may use lethal force to stop a threat. Finally I will address the handgun wounding factors of a human as a target and what you may expect to happen to you and to the attacker if shots are actually fired.
I doubt that anyone would argue that including an owner’s manual with safety instructions when you purchase a piece of equipment that could harm you if used improperly, is a bad idea. If you think about it, most safety rules are defensive and written to help keep you out of trouble. Your decision to follow the recommended safety precautions or not will have a great influence over your future happiness.
Open carry for personal defense is the lawful means citizens have to carry guns in Wisconsin, so what’s next? Do you just strap your gun on your hip as Governor Doyle said in Lake Delton, and you’re good to go? Well, I guess technically he is right.
But it is what you don’t know that will cause you to get yourself into trouble or worse. If you do this wrong you go to prison or the cemetery. I will provide you with an overview of the pertinent laws you must know. It is your responsibility to read the laws and become very familiar with them. Today, the street cops you meet will probably not know them as well as you do. As more people carry, some cops may too need more training too.
First, you need to be legally allowed to possess the firearm under state and federal laws and be at least 18 years of age. If you have lost your right to possess a gun under either state or federal laws, you may not lawfully carry a gun in public at all.
Don’t drink and carry. Drinking gives you no tactical or strategic advantage at all and it weakens your affirmative defense of self defense, if you have ever used your gun to stop a threat against you. You can control if your thinking is clear or impaired.
Don’t brandish your gun or use it to threaten someone. That’s illegal.
You must wear your gun visibly. That means outside of your coat. Wear it under your coat and it is considered concealed and you risk getting yourself busted.
If you plan to drive anywhere, you should be prepared to unload the gun and put it in an appropriate gun case or gun safe to secure it. Magazines should be removed from the gun and it should be cleared. Place it in a trunk or somewhere that you can not reach it. If you happen to forget and you leave it in your holster it is considered concealed and you risk getting yourself busted.
If you’re going to a bar, leave it in the car. Hey that rhymes. That should be easy for you to remember.
Don’t take it in or on school property or within 1,000 feet of a school. This means a public, private or parochial school grades K – 12 (elementary, middle, junior high, high school or senior high schools). This also means any grounds, recreation area or athletic field or any other property owned, used or operated for school administration. This does not mean all colleges or universities.
Any person who goes armed with a firearm in any building owned or leased by the state or any political subdivision of the state is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. State or public colleges and universities fall under this one.
Firearms ordinances enacted by a political subdivision (city, village, town or county) that are not the same or similar to state statute are unenforceable as of November 18, 1995. There is no state statute prohibiting the carry of a gun other than Wis. Stat. § 941.23 regulating the manner of carry of firearms (it must not be concealed).
Your employer may establish a policy forbidding employees to carry a gun while on duty. You have an employee / employer relationship that allows employers to set terms and conditions of employment with discipline up to and including termination of your employment.
If you cross a state line with a gun, the firearms and carry laws of the state you are in apply. As an example, Minnesota allows open carry but you must have a permit to carry from Minnesota or a state Minnesota recognizes, to do so lawfully.
This is Wisconsin case law that you need to know that defines what behavioral elements constitute Disorderly Conduct (no mention of a firearm):
State v Douglas D 2001 WI 47, para 15.243 WIS 2d, 204,626N.W, 2d 725. Para. 15
"The State must prove two elements to convict a defendant under this statute (947.01)"
First, it must prove that the defendant engaged in violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, unnecessarily loud, or similar disorderly conduct.
Second, it must prove that the defendant's conduct occurred under circumstances where such conduct tends to cause or provoke a disturbance".
Remember, an armed society is a polite society. This is true because the consequence of acting like a jerk when we are armed is just too costly.
This article is not intended to provide you with everything that you need to know and is not a substitute for certified training.
Wisconsin statutes are here: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/statutes/Stat0941.pdf
Stay Safe.
Gene German
No matter HOW you carry, you had better know the laws. Period.
concealed carry is better....starts less fights is less intimidating/threatening...you don’t really know if the other guy is armed....ergo my TAGLINE.
Yes find out all the rules but remember to protect yourself if the need occurs....
...in the final analysis, its better to be tried by 12, then carried out by 6.
Does that mean if you drop your kid off at school on your way to go duck hunting you have broken a federal law?
even worse, what if your house borders school property.
“concealed carry is better....”
Perhaps the greatest advantage of open carry in Wisconsin is that it is legal.
There is no legal concealed carry in Wisconsin for citizens that are not officers of the state.
good advantage.
though I would push for CCW shall issue. especially in crowded areas where the local cops might not be happy with Wyatt sauntering down the street with his hogleg strapped low on his leg.
If they cant see it, it causes less problems, generally
I don’t think open carry is a good idea in public areas, because people carrying firearms in plain sight can easily intimidate other people. If I see a beggar asking for money, I can walk by. But what if he has a gun? He does not need to explicitly threaten me.
I don’t see a problem with open carry on private property. If some guy likes to sit on his porch with a gun, that’s his business.
One of them said that maintaining party loyalty was more important than the principles involved in the law.
Open carry is an open declaration of your rights as a free citizen. It is a political speech issue as much as a 2nd Amendment issue.
“Does that mean if you drop your kid off at school on your way to go duck hunting you have broken a federal law?”
at least you can carry.
we have one of the most stringent carry laws in the country here in NY.
I can carry with my permit(you cannot own a handgun in NYS without a permit), but the license is not Shall Issue, it is at the whims of a local police department or judge and the list of regulations, once you get the permit are draconian. My permit is also NOT good in NYC (you can drive through NYC with your handguns locked in the trunk)...that is a given in this state, unless your a celebrity...pretty elitist.
Here is a kicker, I open carry while hunting...but I am not sure if it is legal. There is nothing in the rules that say I can carry open legally. I can carry while hunting, so where do I put that big old .44 Magnum. It probably is legal to carry open while hunting, I see people do it all the time, but I cant find it in any of the regulations....
good luck.
—bflr—
When I visit DC, I go armed.
I'd never go into those sewers unarmed and I'll take my chances with the law if I ever have to use my weapon.
usually I only drive THROUGH, NYC to go to my hunting camp upstate and I carry through the city, which is only 10 or 15 minutes and I take the chance.
the only time I stop there is to go to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, and they WAND you down going in.
but your right...better to be tried by 12 then to be carried out by 6.
I’ve wondered about the 1000 foot law myself.
What if you have a school within 1000 of where you live
that you must drive by to get home?
I live just outside of 1000 foot myself - so I can get
home from the opposite direction.
I believe in Ky that it is fully 'legal' to drop off kiddies at school and even go so far as 'routine' steps into the bldg [ie walkin them to an assigned area] on a state condoned ccw...
but I wouldnt wanna be the test case...
That which is not forbidden is mandatory; that which is not manditory is forbidden.
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