Posted: 2/12/2011 7:31:13 PM EDT
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I'm currently exploring a job opportunity in Wisconsin and am an avid shooter, gun collector and hunter. Can someone give me some perspective about Wisconsin's laws regarding the following:
* What are the requirements for concealed carry? * Are there any issues regarding the ownership of "assault rifles" (having pistol grips, carry handles, flash supperssors...) or high capacity magazines? * If you wanted to do an AOW (i.e.) short barreled rifle or shotgun or Class III, is this allowed as long as you follow federal regulations (i.e. tax stamp fees and background checks)? * I love to hunt deer and other large game. I assume that hunting with rifles is allowed in Wisconsin. Am I mistaken? Any feedback regarding these points would be greatly appreciated! 
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As of right now concealed carry is illegal in Wisconsin. That should change by the end of the year.
Assault rifles are ok. I am not familiar with the laws pertaining to AOW Hunting deer in Wisconsin is restricted in some areas to shotgun or muzzle loader only, The other parts of the state are good for rifles. The Dept of Natural resources website under deer hunting will tell you where rifles are good to go. |
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Grizz,
Thanks for the quick insight. CCW being illegal is terrible news. I hope that this gets addressed soon. I haven't been in Wisconsin more than a few times for business and to visit some friends in Green Bay so possibly moving to your state will a huge change for my family and I. |
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We've been fighting for CCW since the mid 90's.
I'll repeat, we have pro-gun/Republican majorities in both houses and in the governors mansion. A clean shall-issue bill, maybe even AK/AZ style permit-optional should pass this year, possibly before summer. (Also, it passed the legislature twice with 2/3rds super-majorities, failing only by 1-2 votes on th override vote itself) The main upside is that by going almost last, our legislators have the experience of all the other states that have gone before to avoid pitfalls, and (hopefully) picayune restrictions. Otherwise, we have no ammo bans, no magazine bans, no gun type bans etc. No registration, or permits to buy or own any kind of firearm. AOWs, SBRs, SBSs, MGs, DD's, and Suppressors are all AOK with proper NFA taxes/paperwork. Some big city CLEO's won't sign, but I hear that might be going away nationwide anyway, and you can always just incorporate or get a trust. The main gun control law we have is a two business day wait on handguns, as they go through the WI criminal databse first. Long guns are NICS, cash-n-carry. (and back when the Brady 5-day wait was mandatory unless your state had something in place an before NICS/instacheck was done, we were better off than others at least...) Open Carry is legal. (there's some notable southern/western states that don't even have that...) Those getting harassed/arrested anyway have been doing very well in court. 
Probably the other main PITA is our transport/car laws, "enclosed case, unloaded, and generally inacessable." You can't OC in a car. Which means in the trunk for a sedan, back for a van/wagon, or behind the seat for a pickup etc. Good news is we have state wide preemption on gun laws. ONLY the state legislature can pass gun laws. So any municipal ordinances/bans, they just don't exist, or are legally void and unenforceable. Once we have shall-issue CCW, WI will arguably be in the top 10 for gun laws/RKBA. If the Republican control gets us AZ/AK style carry and "Castle Doctrine" and "Stand Your Ground" laws, maybe top five. |
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Quoted:
Grizz, Thanks for the quick insight. CCW being illegal is terrible news. I hope that this gets addressed soon. I haven't been in Wisconsin more than a few times for business and to visit some friends in Green Bay so possibly moving to your state will a huge change for my family and I. AJ answered things well. One other datum - Governor Walker said recently that he expects CCW legislation on his desk as early as this spring, and that he'll sign it. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/18/us-wisconsin-guns-idUSTRE70G58U20110118 |
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WI also has a shooting range protection law.
Also, guns kept in your home must be made inaccessible to minors. If a child gets a hold of a loaded gun in your home and a tragedy happens, you can be held criminally responsible. Keeping guns & ammo secure is just common sense that most of us do anyway, but in WI there is a law that says it's mandatory. There's an abundance of public land open to both hunting and target shooting in the northern 1/3 of the state. Deer populations have been down in the north due to the DNR issuing too many antlerless tags a few years back, when the deer numbers were way up. Overharvest, an explosion in the predator numbers (wolves & coyotes), and a few severe winters, have cut the deer population up north. But there were no doe tags issued the past two years in the hardest hit areas, and the deer are already rebounding. There is a strong hunting tradition in WI. Opening weekend of the firearm deer season is like a state holiday.  It can get crowded out there, as an average of 650,000 deer licenses are sold every year. That's 8-9% of the entire population of the state. Rifles are restricted in some of the more populous areas, mostly the southern half. Shotguns, muzzleloaders, and handguns are legal statewide. There is also a 10 day muzzleloader only season that immediately follows the regular 9 day gun season.
I see you're in Ohio. If you bow hunt, crossbows (which are legal in OH) are only allowed here if you're 65 or older, or have a disabled hunting license. |
I really question the validity of this this quote from the Reuters article. Legal open carry and NFA friendly seems to contradict that particular statement. CCW will definitely be the icing on the cake. 
"Guns are a big part of Wisconsin culture as hunting is popular in the state, which has vast areas of forest and agricultural land. But it has traditionally restricted gun ownership and carrying weapons." |
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Yeah, he was just talking out of his butt, trying to add gravitas to his words.
And it further sounds like the typical blather of the legislator who tries to walk the knife edge thinking he can get away with trying to make being Pro RKBA = pro hunting only. Wi really has few if any "restrictions" that are above and beyond the Federal ones. |
| Here is a map from the DNR of rifle/shotgun areas: http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/wildlife/regs/Deer10regs16-19.pdf |
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rfb45colt - what is that range protection law you mentioned? Thanks.
I knew one guy that used to own a bunch of full auto weapons but ended up selling when his area got a new Chief and he wouldn't sign off on my friend having full auto, saying it was a danger to the public  So you get some of that sometimes, but most are decent especially north of Madison.
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Quoted:
rfb45colt - what is that range protection law you mentioned? Thanks. I knew one guy that used to own a bunch of full auto weapons but ended up selling when his area got a new Chief and he wouldn't sign off on my friend having full auto, saying it was a danger to the public So you get some of that sometimes, but most are decent especially north of Madison.Not sure you have your info correct, if someone already legally owns NFA stuff how the hell can a new chief force him to sell them? |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
rfb45colt - what is that range protection law you mentioned? Thanks. I knew one guy that used to own a bunch of full auto weapons but ended up selling when his area got a new Chief and he wouldn't sign off on my friend having full auto, saying it was a danger to the public So you get some of that sometimes, but most are decent especially north of Madison.Not sure you have your info correct, if someone already legally owns NFA stuff how the hell can a new chief force him to sell them?  Indeed. CLEO sign off is only to transfer something you don't already own.
And the friend could just as easily incorporated or formed a trust to keep on buying new stuff. |
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Quoted:
rfb45colt - what is that range protection law you mentioned? Thanks. It's a state statute that prohibits lawsuits aimed at closing shooting ranges because of "noise" issues when urban sprawl gets too close to an existing range. It works. I don't have the statute # handy, but I'll find it later. We used it in Vilas county when a real estate developer sub-divided a 40 that was adjacent to a county owned range that's been there for 40+ years. She tried to get the range closed but was stopped cold. She couldn't sue because of noise issues, and she had no proof the range was a "danger to the sorrounding community". To placate her somewhat, the county recently spent about $50K to upgrade the range. It's now much safer with enormous backstops, and berms were built to deflect noise away from the subdivision. |
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Good user name.
WI is a great place of you're active outdoors. We have fun stuff to do year round. Each season has something to look forward to once you get into a rhythm of playing outside. The gun laws are tolerable and getting better fast. The state constitution is WAY stronger than the US constitution on 2A. State preemption is nice. That means that municipalities don't get to makeup their own gun rules. The state laws are the laws; everywhere. Being an alcoholic is an all encompassing state pastime here, so if you're in recovery that might be a problem. The reason that 1st DUI isn't criminal is because everyone making the decisions has a guilty conscience. Our ex-attorney general cracked up a state car DUI and plead guilty. I'm not being funny. We've got liquor like some places have meth. Our property values are still over inflated even though nothing is moving. The property taxes are downright stupid. Every liberal's wet dream is on your tax bill. WI is The Welfare State. Your working hard and getting ahead is apparently unfair to those who sit on their asses doing nothing, and the state is going to make it right. |
| This week should begin the phone interview process and then hopefully a face-to-face interview in Shaboygan. It'll be interesting to see if things calm down regarding protests in the state and/or whether or not the collective bargaining vote will be made before I make my trip in the next two weeks. |