Posted on 07/10/2011 6:21:09 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
On Friday, Governor Scott Walker signed a bill that made Wisconsin the 49th state to allow law-abiding citizens to carry firearms. Walker had tried to get the bill passed for years while a state legislator, but his Democratic predecessor, Jim Doyle, and Democrats in the legislature had stymied those efforts. This time the bill passed with bipartisan support and allows Wisconsin residents to get permits on a must-issue basis — meaning that the state cannot deny a permit application without justifiable cause, such as a felony record:
In one stroke, the legislation takes Wisconsin from being one of the final pair of remaining holdouts on concealed carry to having one of the more permissive bills in the country.
The proposal, which takes effect Nov. 1, joins other long-sought measures that Republicans passed this year, including requiring photo IDs from voters and making health savings accounts tax-exempt.
Signing the bill in Rothschild, near Wausau, Walker noted the length of the fight over the legislation, which he had once also supported as a lawmaker.
“By signing concealed carry into law today we are making Wisconsin safer for all responsible, law abiding citizens,” he said in a statement.
The measure includes provisions requiring training and permits, which were sought by both Walker and Democrats. Some Republicans unsuccessfully pushed “constitutional carry” bills that would have allowed people to carry concealed guns without permits.
Protesters shouted about the threat to public safety facing Wisconsin residents that has been seen in, er, how many carry states? Zero. In fact, most states see a decrease in crime after the enactment of such legislation, as Rep. Cliff Stearns noted in 2009:
Allowing law-abiding people to arm themselves offers more than piece of mind for those individuals — it pays off for everybody through lower crime rates. Statistics from the FBI’s Uniformed Crime Report of 2007 show that states with right-to-carry laws have a 30% lower homicide rate, 46% lower robbery, and 12% lower aggravated assault rate and a 22% lower overall violent crime rate than do states without such laws. That is why more and more states have passed right-to-carry laws over the past decade.
In 1987, my home state of Florida enacted a “shall issue” law that has become the model for other states. Anti-gun groups, politicians and the news media predicted the new law would lead to vigilante justice and “Wild West” shootouts on every corner.
But since adopting a concealed carry law Florida’s total violent crime rate has dropped 32% and its homicide rate has dropped 58%. Floridians, except for criminals, are safer due to this law. And Florida is not alone. Texas’ violent crime rate has dropped 20% and homicide rate has dropped 31%, since enactment of its 1996 carry law.
Another study makes the moral case for expanding and enhancing right-to-carry laws. A report by John Lott, Jr. and David Mustard of the University of Chicago released in 1996 found “that allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons deters violent crimes and it appears to produce no increase in accidental deaths.” Further, the Lott-Mustard study noted, “If those states which did not have right-to-carry concealed gun provisions had adopted them in 1992, approximately 1,570 murders; 4,177 rapes; and over 60,000 aggravate assaults would have been avoided yearly.”
Think about it. Nearly 8,000 of our fellow citizens have died between 1992 and 1996 because of the irrational fear that law-abiding Americans would abuse their right to self defense. In fact concealed carry permit holders are more law-abiding than the rest of the public. For example, Florida, which has issued more carry permits than any state has issued 1.36 million permits, but revoked only 165 (0.01%) due to gun crimes by permit-holders.
John Lott wrote about the dynamics of self-defense in his seminal book, More Guns Less Crime, which is in its third edition (and is available on Kindle now, too). Here in Minnesota, opponents also warned about the return of the Wild Wild West and blood flowing in the streets, and the scare tactics turned out to be entirely false. That’s because going through the training process provides a sobering douse of cold water on gun owners about the realities of using a firearm for self-defense. My late friend Joel Rosenberg’s excellent book on the subject Everything You Need to Know About (Legally) Carrying a Gun in Minnesota and his most recent effort The Carry Book gave an entertainingly dire warning to those who thought that a carry permit was the same thing as a Junior Deputy badge.
Law-abiding citizens who seek out and receive the necessary training to get the permit know exactly the stakes involved, which is why (besides the fact that they were law-abiding in the first place) these states don’t see increases in crime rates, especially in relation to permit holders. But having law-abiding citizens carry firearms may be why criminals suddenly take less interest in victimizing them, which may well be the reason for the drops in crime seen after adoption of carry-permit laws.
We’ll be celebrating Joel’s life and work at the MOB Day at the Range this Thursday evening, as well as raising funds for his family. Looks like we can also celebrate the fact that our neighbors to the east have won the right to protect themselves, too.
Walker is right.
We’ve been thru this 40 some-odd other times in other states approving ccw, yet every time, the anti folks trott out the same old tired and disproven arguments........ you know, blood in the streets, the OK Corral, etc.........
Heh...heh...heh...
Governor Walker has the political fortitude to partially place into law what the 2nd amendment guarantee's in the first place.
Thanks be to the Gov for moving toward the Constitution instead away from it!
I wish we could borrow Walker for awhile. Our governor is a liberal moron who gave away free tuition to effing illegals, made teaching faggotry mandatory in schools, and empowered the state unions more than ever.
Illinois is next to be conquered ! Time to take care of that brown shirt state !
Protester don’t seem too afraid to get into someone’s face given the new “danger” to the public.
Protester don’t seem too afraid to get into someone’s face given the new “danger” to the public.
This needs to be universal. Kalifornistan, for example, allows CCW, but only in certain counties. In the sewer known as LA, one only can legally CCW if he’s rich (and greases the palms of the greaseball politicians) or he’s a celebrity.
“This time the bill passed with bipartisan support...”
This should tell you guys all you need to know about the Democrats. If the bill was WRONG with Doyle as governor, then it is still WRONG with Walker as governor...that is unless you don’t stand for anything (other than trying to make Republicans look bad).
"Shall issue" was fought in Michigan even after it was passed and signed into law. Every newspaper, liberal and RINO, urged ignoring the law. Every county executive said they would not follow the law. The libs even came up with unconstitutional reasons why is should be ignored. The state supreme court upheld everything by a one-vote margin.
After that, all the news media quoted all the politicians who were predicting genocide with an unseemly hopeful tone in their voice. They did this for four years on the anniversary of the day the law took effect. No massacres, but they were sure the bloodbath was just around the corner. They finally gave up after five years. Instead, they're pushing for more psychological disqualifiers that would require plenty of intrusion into patient records. You wouldn't have to be adjudged a nutcase by a qualified doctor. A prescription sleeping aid would be enough.
It hasn't worked yet, but it's just below the radar on all "shall issue" states.
Sad state of affairs.
I don’t like that word “allow.” We have the God-given natural right to protect ourselves with arms.
The permit is a privilege as opposed to a right, just like a drivers license, hunting and fishing licenses. Privileges can be revoked.
That’s exactly the point that I didn’t say before.
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