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Republicans had barely finished crafting rules for how the state's new concealed carry law would apply at state buildings when Democrats and others on the left started upbraiding them for the irony of allowing guns in the Capitol but not cameras or video recorders in the Assembly and Senate galleries. It was only a few months ago, after all, that metal detectors were installed to prevent nonviolent protesters from bringing in just such life-threatening weapons, and today a small group of hard-core protesters continues to get cited for nothing more life-threatening than recording their lawmakers from the gallery.

A West Milwaukee gun shop that sold firearms used to wound Milwaukee police officers and has been a top seller of crime guns is surrendering its license. But guns will likely continue to be sold from the location now occupied by Badger Guns on S. 43rd St., on the border with Milwaukee. Details of that new gun-dealing operation are not clear, but one possibility is that the brother of the current owner will pull a fresh license and continue an operation with a new name - legal under laws written by Congress that can protect stores that have violations. Badger...

A conservative incumbent surged to a commanding lead in Wisconsin's hotly contested Supreme Court election Thursday, after a predominantly GOP county's clerk announced she had incorrectly entered vote totals in the race seen as a referendum on Republican Gov. Scott Walker's divisive union rights law. Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus said more than 14,000 votes weren't reported to The Associated Press on Tuesday due to "human error." Nickolaus previously worked for a GOP caucus that was under the control of Justice David Prosser, who was speaker of the Assembly at the time and who now stands to benefit

Below, you’ll find a compilation of 20 days worth of the death threats, vandalism, and intimidation practiced by pro-union thugs opposed to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s budget repair bill. Wisconsin is my home state. I lived there until I was 27 years-old in 1993 and most of my family, including my parents still live there. For that reason and because the issue of education and teachers unions has been a passion of mine for going on two decades, I’ve been following this story very, very closely. My original intent was to compile all of this earlier in the week, but...

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is praising Republicans in the state Senate who have voted to strip nearly all collective bargaining rights from public workers. Republicans cast the quick vote Wednesday after discovering a way to bypass the chamber's missing Democrats. All 14 Senate Democrats fled to Illinois nearly three weeks ago, preventing the chamber from having enough members present to consider Gov. Scott Walker's so-called "budget repair bill" - a proposal introduced to plug a $137 million budget shortfall.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Republicans in the Wisconsin Senate voted Wednesday night to strip nearly all collective bargaining rights from public workers after discovering a way to bypass the chamber's missing Democrats. All 14 Senate Democrats fled to Illinois nearly three weeks ago, preventing the chamber from having enough members present to consider Gov. Scott Walker's so-called "budget repair bill" - a proposal introduced to plug a $137 million budget shortfall. The Senate requires a quorum to take up any measures that spend money. But Republicans on Wednesday split from the legislation the proposal to curtail union rights, which spends...

MADISON, Wis.--The head of Wisconsin's powerful teachers' union is calling on educators to return to classrooms Monday and Tuesday rather than continue being absent to protest an anti-union bill at the state Capitol. The protests against a bill that would take away public workers' right to collectively bargain for their benefits and working conditions forced several school districts to shut down last week after teachers called in sick to join demonstrators in Madison.

MADISON, Wis. – Authorities say an estimated 25,000 people are protesting anti-union legislation at the Wisconsin state Capitol, and nine demonstrators have been arrested. On the third day of protests, the Statehouse was completely jammed with protesters opposed to a bill that would strip public employees of their collective bargaining rights. The crowd filled the building's hallways, sat cross-legged across the floor and chanted slogans. For the moment, a group of Democratic senators have blocked the bill by refusing to attend a midday vote and leaving the Capitol. The sergeant at arms was looking for them. One member of the...

MADISON, Wis. – A group of Wisconsin lawmakers blocked passage of a sweeping anti-union bill Thursday by ignoring orders to attend a vote and instead left the state to force Republicans to negotiate over the proposal. As ever-growing throngs of protesters filled the Capitol for a third day, the 14 Democrats disappeared from the Capitol. They were not in their offices, and aides said they did not know where any of them had gone. Hours later, one of them told The Associated Press that the group had left Wisconsin. Sen. Jon Erpenbach said Democrats fled to slow down consideration of...

West Allis - City and school officials here are scrambling to react after it came to light that a property owner wants to set up a gun shop kitty-corner to an elementary school. But they're not likely to prevent the shop from opening, and they may even be limited in what they can do to keep other such businesses away from schools. Michael G. Govas, who owns a commercial and apartment building at 2192 S. 60th St., applied for a business occupancy permit in August to operate Shorty's Shooting Sports in a 1,500-square-foot storefront in the building. The application says...

Earlier this fall, while scanning the merchandise at a state gun show for an antique handgun, longtime gun enthusiast Guy Gorsky took notice of more than the array of potential investment pieces. Based on the attire worn, questions asked and weapons eyed by a group of young men, Gorsky, who attends three or four gun shows a year, had a feeling they were gang members looking to make a quick purchase. “They were only looking at automatic weapons,” says Gorsky, who keeps a variety of handguns and rifles in his Madison home. “I found that the most concerning.” Unlike weapons...

When the city's top cop and county's top prosecutor want to open the door for a concealed-carry gun law in Wisconsin, it seems the writing may be on the wall. Police Chief Edward Flynn and Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm told a City Hall committee last week that allowing concealed-carry permits in Wisconsin could ultimately make things safer for everyone. Specifically, they said, if the state issued such permits under a tough eligibility process and coupled that with more stringent background checks for all gun purchases, the number of illegally sold weapons could be cut across the board. The...

Two powerful Milwaukee leaders on Wednesday floated the idea of allowing concealed-carry gun permits in Wisconsin as part of a larger package of gun law reforms - marking a departure with Mayor Tom Barrett on the hot issue. Police Chief Edward Flynn and District Attorney John Chisholm said allowing concealed-carry weapon permits must be coupled with other changes such as requiring background checks on all gun purchases in Wisconsin. Currently, only federally licensed gun stores have to do such checks in the state. Allowing concealed-carry permits has long been a top priority for gun-rights advocates. Conversely, gun-control advocates have pushed...

Officer, 44, shot in arm while serving search warrant on north side; police arrest 6 in house; top officials seek tougher laws to keep guns from felons Another Milwaukee police officer was shot Wednesday morning - the fourth this year - and hours later city leaders announced a drive for tougher gun laws in Wisconsin to keep firearms away from felons. The 44-year-old officer was shot in the left arm while trying to serve a search warrant at a house in the 3200 block of N. 12th St., police said. The 17-year veteran was in good condition at Froedtert Hospital...

MARSHFIELD, Wis. — When it comes to spitting a cricket for distance, the central Wisconsin talent seems concentrated in one Marshfield family. Brian Johnsrud spat a thawed cricket 22 feet, 8 inches at the Central Wisconsin State Fair on Saturday. Minutes later, his son Jared shot his cricket 10 feet, 5 inches to win the 9-to-11 age division.

Madison police would enlist parental permission to search for guns in their children’s bedrooms in one part of a multifaceted plan outlined Thursday by Mayor Dave Cieslewicz. The search and seizure proposal is one of a long list initiatives — some new and some old — that Cieslewicz wants examined in the wake of a sharp increase in gun violence on the south and west sides of Madison this year. “We’ve got to be tough,” Cieslewicz said. “We’ve got to pull every enforcement lever we have to deal with people who deal drugs and people who fire guns.”

With two area murders in the past two weeks, two officers shot, and a popular candy store owner killed in Milwaukee -- all by gunfire -- it might seem to be an odd time to try to get more guns on the street. But gun advocates say this is the perfect time to build momentum for a movement that is already gaining traction. "That's just all the more reason why the good guys ought to be able to carry their guns," says Mark Stollenwerk, co-founder of OpenCarry.org, a Virginia-based pro-gun website that has targeted Wisconsin for a media and lobbying...

LANCASTER, Wis. - A judge on Friday dismissed charges of attempted sexual assault against three men accused of trying to dig up a woman's body to have sex with the corpse, noting that Wisconsin has no law against necrophilia. The men still face lesser charges. Twins Nicholas and Alexander Grunke, 20, and Dustin Radke, 20, were arrested after an alleged attempt to dig up the body of a 20-year-old woman who was killed Aug. 27 in a motorcycle crash. Officials said a caller reported suspicious activity in the cemetery Sept. 2, and deputies found someone had dug down to her...

HAQLANIYAH, Iraq (Dec. 14, 2005) -- In the town of Haqlaniyah, the “Raiders” of Company I, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, continue to patrol the streets every day, keeping the area safe from the ongoing insurgency. On many of these patrols is Oconomowoc, Wis., native, Lance Cpl. Darin J. Wittnebel who has a very important duty that helps him keep the “Raider Nation” safe from improvised explosive devices and find abandoned weapons caches. He carries the PSS-12 metal detector on every patrol he goes on. “The detector can pick up lots of stuff underneath the ground or under piles of...

MADISON, Wis. - Although Wisconsin residents have voiced their support for a plan to legalize wild cat hunting, some legislators and cat lovers say they will continue their fight. The proposal would allow licensed hunters to kill free-roaming cats, including any domestic cat that isn't under the owner's direct control or any cat without a collar, just like skunks or gophers - something the Humane Society of the United States has described as cruel and archaic. Outdoor enthusiasts approved the proposal 6,830 to 5,201 at Monday's spring hearings of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, a citizens' advisory group. The results, released...