They certainly have been considered such, and the exception for "rifles and shotguns" possessed by minors only apply when the minor is complying with state hunting statutes.
In other words, the legislative intent was that rifles and shotguns are only exempt when being used in the field for hunting purposes.
There are also other exemptions under the same law for minors under the direct supervision of a parent or instructor for purposes of firearms or martial arts training, but those clearly don't apply so those exemptions haven't received much ink in the press.
Admittedly the Wisconsin statute was awkwardly worded, but it is clear that they were attempting to create a hunting exemption to the minor in possession prohibition that required more than just the statement "I was hunting." The minor had to have had taken a hunter safety course (Kyle didn't,) and the minor had to have a valid hunting license (Kyle didn't.)
It is difficult to believe you read the article which has links to the historical and current acts.
It cites all the statutes, their timing, and what they did.
Hunting and "possession and use" were always separated in the law.
The legislative intent was clear. The intended that people under the age of 18 not have concealable firearms, then other specific weapons were include. Firearms with barrels of less than 12 inches were initially specified, then it was changed to all firearms except rifles and shotguns which were not short barreled rifles and shotguns.
Yo-Yo,
Hypothetically, if someone was stabbing Kyle’s mother in the street and he ran back into his house, grabbed a rifle, and sent back and shot the perpetrator would he be guilty of murder because he wasn’t legally entitled to carry a gun?
If a 14 year old child was sitting in his alone in his mother’s car outside a nail salon and a man waving a knife tried to break in the car and the teen accidentally ran over and killed the attacker while trying to escape by driving away would be be guilty of the assailan’s death?
The answer to both is “not guilty” and so the answer with Kyle Rittenhouse is “not guilty!