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Posted on 04/30/2009 6:05:52 AM PDT by marktwain
Wisconsin open carry organizers are not sitting still to see what Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn has REALLY told his officers regarding the Attorney General’s memo that the open carry of handguns is legal and constitutionally protected. See the open records request below submitted by Burlington resident Tom Reda, who travels frequently to Milwaukee to visit his son who lives there.
Says Reda, “I wanna know what Chief Flynn is **really** telling his officers.” Reda is also planning an open carry picnic in Burlington, WI this summer.
Opencarry.org will be helping its members in Wisconsin to use Wisconsin’s open records law to enforce open carry law. If any police department chooses to execute a non-consensual encounter with open carriers there had better be a real good reason - and rest assured we will make open records requests for 911 audio recordings and departmental policy records each and every time there is a non-consensual stop.
“But we actually don’t expect open carry to be a big deal in most of Wisconsin,” says opencarry.org co-founder Mike Stollenwerk. “Wisconsin gun owners are ready to play ball with police.”
Adds Mike, “besides the fact that most of Wisconsin is used to hunters shouldering long guns, every rank in file police officer knows that bad guys rarely, if ever, open carry holstered handguns.” See Anthony Pinizzotto, et al., Violent Encounters: A Study of Felonious Assaults on Our Nation’s Law Enforcement Officers, FBI (2006) (finding that violent criminals carefully “conceal” their guns and “eschew holsters”), summary available at http://www.forcesciencenews.com/home/detail.html?serial=62.
Open Records Request:
SUBJECT: Open Records Act Request re “open carry” policy records
TO: Chief Ed Flynn, City of Milwaukee Police Department, 749 W. State Street, Milwaukee, WI 5323.
Dear Chief Flynn:
This is an Open Records Act request for records pertaining to any guidance or policy you or your office issued on or after April 17, 2009 regarding how officers are to approach or deal with a person openly carrying handguns in public areas.
I am requesting any record, including but not limited to emails, faxes, and memoranda that sets forth or discusses your policy, or department policy, or guidance as to how officers might or must act when encountering or called to investigate a person openly carrying a handgun, e.g., in a holster.
Such guidance might include or pertain to such things as “‘taking down” citizens, pointing guns at citizens, handcuffing citizens, demanding personal information or identification from citizens, removing guns from citizens, recording serial numbers of citizens’ guns, keeping citizens’ guns, and/or arresting or citing citizens for disorderly conduct or other charges.
As you know, the law requires you to respond to this request “as soon as practicable and without delay.”
Please also be aware that the Open Records law “shall be construed in every instance with the presumption of complete public access consistent with the conduct of governmental business. The denial of access generally is contrary to the public interest and only in exceptional cases can access be denied.” If you deny my request, the law requires you to do so in writing and state what part of the law you believe entitles you to deny my request. Wis. Stat. § 19.35(4)(a).
The Open Records Act states that you may charge for “the actual, necessary and direct cost” of locating records, if this exceeds $50, and for photocopies. The Wisconsin Department of Justice advises that copying fees under the Open Records law should be “around 15 cents per page and that anything in excess of 25 cents may be suspect.” Please advise me before processing this request if the total cost will exceed $75.00.
I thank you in advance for responding to this request at your earliest convenience and will also mail you a hard copy of this email to: Chief Ed Flynn, City Police Department, 749 W. State Street, Milwaukee, WI 5323.
Electronic delivery of records appreciated at my email address. Alternatively, please mail records to my home address listed below.
Sincerely,
Thomas Reda
Posted @ 2:00 p.m.
I salute opencarry.org. They are doing a wonderful job.
GOOD WORK, man!
Something good from Wisconsin!
BRAVO!
State RKBA Groups all across the U.S. have been taking it to "the Man" for a couple of years now, in our state we have been very successful with the legislature in modifying and improving our outdated firearms laws, and next year is firming up nice... Our groups membership has jumped by a thousand plus in the last three months!
But the battle goes on, so in addition to joining your State/Local Gun Rights Group...
National Rifle Association (NRA)
Second Amendment Foundation (SAF)
Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO)
Alarm and Muster – The document that started a movement
Alarm and Muster – The Modern Day Call Tree for Emergency Preparation
ping
-heard about this?
Just a thought but is every Wisconsin resident able to make such a request. Wouldn’t it be grand to see the Police Chief swamped with 200-300 such requests every time his department “takes down” someone exercising their rights under the law.
Hell yes, the proverbial fat's in the fire up here over it.
The ruling came from our normally toothless AG who up to this point, hasn't really done or said a damned thing.
Personally speaking?
If Van Hollen, our AG, never did another thing this would be enough to suite me.
But not to worry, it ain't gonna last.
No one's ever seen politicians move faster than when they want to make a point; so, I'm certain the Madison bastards are hard at work in earnest ginning up new legislation reversing Van Hollen's ruling.
The moron Milwaukee Mayor had better get a handle on his Police Chief, too. This clown (Sullivan?) said he's ordered "his men" to body slam any & all found to be openly carrying; which, will result in lawsuits of monumental proportions against the city...and justly so.
OTOH I'm waiting (w/ baited breath) for WI's Liberal-Socialists --led by their bald headed, phenomenally crooked mick hero, Gov Doyle-- to come out with a full frontal attack against WI's only senior administration GOP politician for the sin of issuing his interpretation of WI law.
That's just the way it is up here.
Say, heard Bend OR took a major hit yesterday with Cessna's decision to discontinue the innovative design of a new corporate jet.
Lots of people out on the street in an area already depressed.
Hope & change, eh?
More pain's going to be needed though since I suspect these Bend people are nothing if not *thick*.
OR & WI.
Could easily be called sister states, considering how similarly screwed up the two places really are.
No wonder you & I get along so well. :o)
One of my old favs. :^)
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