Gun laws seem to be a hot topic right now across Wisconsin. Over the weekend, gun proponents held a demonstration in Sussex, alleging police harassed someone openly carrying a gun inside a restaurant that doesn’t prohibit firearms. Also, the state Senate Tuesday will take up a bill that would allow hunters to carry uncased guns that are not loaded, in their vehicles. WUWM’s LaToya Dennis has more.
Under current Wisconsin law, guns have to be unloaded and in a case before legally being transported in a vehicle. But, if Democratic Senator Russ Decker has anything to do with it, that law will soon change. Decker introduced the bill that members of the Senate are taking up.
“What Senate Bill 222 does is, it allows guns to be uncased that are unloaded, during the times that you have a valid hunting license. It could be a half hour before the season starts, or a half hour after the season,” Decker says.
Decker says the reason for the proposed change is pretty straightforward.
“Many times a hunter will get out to his friends’ vehicle and the doors will be locked or his case will be in a different vehicle, so then they’re in a quandary, what they’re gonna do,” Decker says.
Decker says the way he sees it, it only makes sense to ease the law for hunters. Republican Senator Randy Hopper agrees.
“It is a common sense piece of legislation that really deals with a hunter’s ability to either keep his gun in or out of the case when they’re already out in the field hunting,” Hopper says.
However, Hopper says he understands how even the smallest change when it comes to gun laws, might make some uncomfortable. But he says people really shouldn’t worry.
“It’s really important to understand that this bill doesn’t change a single thing about who can and can’t get a firearm. It doesn’t change concealed carry, outside of the hunting area. You still can’t carry a gun into a school, into a grocery store. You still can’t go into a hospital or anything like that. Bill 222 does not apply to handguns. It specifically must be 26 inches in length,” Hopper says.
But some open carry advocates would like to see handguns included in this legislation. Nik Clark is President of Wisconsin Carry Incorporated.
“I open carry every where I go that it’s legal to do so. So when I go to the grocery store, when I go to the doctor’s office, when I go to the hardware store I always carry. Every time I get to a parking lot, I have to stop pull the gun case out of the car, take the gun out, load the gun while I’m standing in the parking lot and then put it in my holster. So that’s a lot of extra handling of the gun,” Clark says.
Lawmakers say they expect the measure to pass in the Senate and head to the Assembly. Also Monday, gun advocates across the country participated in National Gun Control Protest Day. Wisconsin Capitol Police were on the lookout for anyone carrying firearms because they are not allowed in the building.
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