If you open carry - Wisconsin laws you must know

Wisconsin Gun Rights Examiner ^ | 23 March, 2009 | Gene German

[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

[Secret Agent Man]

IF you’re on your property you can carry. They are not allowed to take away your right to be armed because you live next to a school. There’s a ton of people living within 1000 feet of schools and nobody is telling them they can’t defend their homes and themselves with guns. you don’t have a duty to die because you’re next to a school.