Gun Regulation in Wisconsin
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Gun Regulation in the State of Wisconsin Benjamin Franklin said: “They that would give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” I dislike any weapon of violence; I would never keep a gun. However, that is only my personal opinion. I hold the belief that I must take such an opinion, inspect it thoroughly for flaws, weigh it in the balance of reason, and only then act upon it. I may dislike guns, but that does not mean I may violate the rights of others by demanding those guns be taken away. Instead, we must consider the implications of those rights. We must look at the right to bear arms and weigh the possible dangers against the value of a civil right. There are two things to consider when looking at firearm regulation in the United States. The first is the rights of the people that are written into the constitution as well as various laws. The second is what effects guns may have in our communities. We must determine whether gun regulation would be beneficial or detrimental to our state. The second amendment of the United States constitution is written as follows: “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a fr ee fr ee state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” There has always been a large debate over the implications of this amendment, and whether the framers intended to make it a statement of the right to bear arms no matter what, or an encouragement of the formation of a militia of the people. However, we must at all times consider the words of Benjamin Franklin. If the constitution can be interpreted to give the people more rights, then it should be. Section 25 of the Wisconsin constitution, enacted in 1998 (an interesting date for a constitutional amendment) states that: “The people have the right to keep and bear arms for security, defense, hunting, recreation or any other lawful purpose.” 1 This seems to narrow the US constitution down a bit. The implication here is that guns may be kept, but only for certain purposes, and those purposes must be lawful. Nonetheless, the great majority of gun activity that can be regulated by the government falls under this category, and thus we are left with almost no choice but to allow guns to be kept by citizens. While we have now determined that the possession of arms is a constitutional right, we certainly have not ruled out the possibility of more regulation of the gun buying process, and we have not determined whether there is a threat to our community by these rights of ownership. This must be considered, because one person’s rights end where another’s begin. Gun regulation must be considered if the possession of guns hinders the rights of others.
Looking at the effects of firearms in our communities, we find that there is little to no correlation between regulation and violence with guns. At first this seems a bit counterintuitive. Yet, studies that look at broad trends of violence find no correlation with weapon regulation or limitation. 2
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An increase in gun regulation does not correlate with with a decrease decrease in violence. violence. Instead, Instead, we must must look to other causes of the violence we experience in our neighborhoods. Gun regulation, however, seems not to be the answer. It is inevitable, then, that the state must allow the possession of firearms as long as the person in possession has some form of permit and demonstrates that they have the responsibility to own such a weapon. Many Wisconsinites enjoy hunting with guns, some feel more comfortable in the knowledge that they can defend themselves, and others collect firearms as a hobby. They have explicit rights which should not be violated. After coming coming to this conclusion conclusion,, I decided to take a look at the act signed signed by Mr. Walker which 3 details the creation of the self-defence law. This is act 69. Act 69 is well well conceived. conceived. Wisconsin’s self -defence -defence law will never become a stand-your-ground law. The way it is written, Act 69 ensures that citizens can feel comfortable protecting themselves, while maintaining the ability of the justice system to react effectively. When you look at the law put into effect, it is made up of reasonable restrictions on the use of guns to defend one’s home. There are yet further ideas for the regulation of firearms, specifically pertaining to the recent enactment of a concealed carry law in Wisconsin. 4 Although the thought of concealed carry makes me uncomfortable, there are many good arguments for it. 5 All 50 states in the union allow concealed carry in some form, and it falls under the same rights in the constitution as the right to keep firearms. To that effect, while it makes me uncomfortable, concealed carry is not something I would fight or legislate against. Instead, I believe we as a state should focus on the causes of violence in our neighborhoods as well as the creation of an efficient and thorough permitting process for the concealed carry of firearms. By enacting legislation to fix the concealed carry permitting process and to require more background checks upon purchasing a gun, we can fix the parts of our current system which are ineffective. Moving forward and addressing the causes of the violence by preventing guns from falling into the wrong hands, we can hopefully make our state a better place to live in without compromising those rights of the people which we hold so dear. We must not give up our essential liberties.
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1. http://legis.wisconsin.gov/rsb/unannotated_wisconst.pdf 2. http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jlpp/Vol30_No2_KatesMauseronline.pdf 3. https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2011/proposals/ab69 4. http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2011/related/acts/35.pdf 5. http://concealedguns.procon.org/#pro_con Additional Additional resources: The effect of concealed carry weapons on crime rates http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/do-concealed-weapon-laws-result-inless-crime/2012/12/16/e80a5d7e-47c9-11e2-ad54-580638ede391_blog.html Concealed carry permit registration form - (included is copy of self-defence law) http://www.doj.state.wi.us/sites/default/files/dles/ccw/concealed-carry-application.pdf Poll results on gun control and regulation issues http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/24/gun-control-polls_n_3327279.html
Looking at the effects of firearms in our communities, we find that there is little to no correlation between regulation and violence with guns. At first this seems a bit counterintuitive. Yet, studies that look at broad trends of violence find no correlation with weapon regulation or limitation. 2
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An increase in gun regulation does not correlate with with a decrease decrease in violence. violence. Instead, Instead, we must must look to other causes of the violence we experience in our neighborhoods. Gun regulation, however, seems not to be the answer. It is inevitable, then, that the state must allow the possession of firearms as long as the person in possession has some form of permit and demonstrates that they have the responsibility to own such a weapon. Many Wisconsinites enjoy hunting with guns, some feel more comfortable in the knowledge that they can defend themselves, and others collect firearms as a hobby. They have explicit rights which should not be violated. After coming coming to this conclusion conclusion,, I decided to take a look at the act signed signed by Mr. Walker which 3 details the creation of the self-defence law. This is act 69. Act 69 is well well conceived. conceived. Wisconsin’s self -defence -defence law will never become a stand-your-ground law. The way it is written, Act 69 ensures that citizens can feel comfortable protecting themselves, while maintaining the ability of the justice system to react effectively. When you look at the law put into effect, it is made up of reasonable restrictions on the use of guns to defend one’s home. There are yet further ideas for the regulation of firearms, specifically pertaining to the recent enactment of a concealed carry law in Wisconsin. 4 Although the thought of concealed carry makes me uncomfortable, there are many good arguments for it. 5 All 50 states in the union allow concealed carry in some form, and it falls under the same rights in the constitution as the right to keep firearms. To that effect, while it makes me uncomfortable, concealed carry is not something I would fight or legislate against. Instead, I believe we as a state should focus on the causes of violence in our neighborhoods as well as the creation of an efficient and thorough permitting process for the concealed carry of firearms. By enacting legislation to fix the concealed carry permitting process and to require more background checks upon purchasing a gun, we can fix the parts of our current system which are ineffective. Moving forward and addressing the causes of the violence by preventing guns from falling into the wrong hands, we can hopefully make our state a better place to live in without compromising those rights of the people which we hold so dear. We must not give up our essential liberties.
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1. http://legis.wisconsin.gov/rsb/unannotated_wisconst.pdf 2. http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jlpp/Vol30_No2_KatesMauseronline.pdf 3. https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2011/proposals/ab69 4. http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2011/related/acts/35.pdf 5. http://concealedguns.procon.org/#pro_con Additional Additional resources: The effect of concealed carry weapons on crime rates http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/do-concealed-weapon-laws-result-inless-crime/2012/12/16/e80a5d7e-47c9-11e2-ad54-580638ede391_blog.html Concealed carry permit registration form - (included is copy of self-defence law) http://www.doj.state.wi.us/sites/default/files/dles/ccw/concealed-carry-application.pdf Poll results on gun control and regulation issues http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/24/gun-control-polls_n_3327279.html
