I'm writing to enquire about your positions on this important piece of legislation...

While this issue continues to be contraversial in Wisconsin, as you are aware over 80% of states in this country have some provision for law-abiding citizens to carry concealed weapons, and 70% of these are similar to the current proposed legislation.

Also, it should be noted that opponents of concealed weapons offer the same dire predictions about 'road rage turning deadly', 'returning to the Wild West',  and 'more guns in the hands of criminals'... The problem is, in the 45-some states that allow concealed weapons this is a rare-to-non-existant problem. Less than 1% of issued permits have been revoked for criminal activities (not to be confused with the VPC's crimes-by-holders statistics, which includes such 'serious, violent' offenses as 'failing to register a boat'), mainly because permit applicants are typically upstanding citizens - the criminals are allready carrying as we speak, and neither the current law nor this bill will do nothing to change that... As for the general claims that 'violence will increase', it's a statistical fact that citizens personal guns are used to prevent more crimes every year than the number of murders and suicides committed with guns combined, often without firing a single shot.

As you know, the Wisconsin Constitution states that citizens have the right to keep and bear arms for defense or any other legal purpose. While the Supreme Court decided that the current law was constitutional, this rests partially on the fact that it is technically legal to openly carry weapons in Wisconsin. However, in direct violation of the state firearms preemption law, most major cities (and some not-so-major ones, like the Village of Whitefish Bay) will prosecute anyone caught doing so. This creates a situation where these 2 laws prohibit any citizen in these areas from 'bearing' arms outside their home or place of business, and thus violates said citizen's rights.

Finally, as for the thoughts that there are certain areas where weapons shouldn't be allowed, those areas are pretty well defined by state law as is... The only exception to this is that people should be able to carry in their cars. I myself have almost been a victim of 'road rage' (or a possible carjacking attempt), as 2 individuals tried to drag me from my car at a stoplight. I was fortunate enough to be in front of traffic and able to run the light. Had I been boxed in by other cars, I would have needed that loaded gun that it's presently illegal for me to keep in the car. The situation is similar in several well-publicized crimes where unarmed citizens were abducted, raped, and/or murdered by un-armed criminals, in some cases while others watched. Charlie Young's murder, and the kidnap/gang-rape of a north-side woman (where it took the police over 20min to respond, by which time her attackers had raped her and burned her clothes) both could have been prevented if one of the victims or witnesses had been carrying a gun. Once again, criminals allready illegally carry guns into all these places that people want excluded! Further exclusions will just create 'safe victim zones', and may actually increase violence!

If there are concerns about criminals carrying, perhaps an ammendment should be introduced to provide mandatory jail time for unlicensed carry... But if responsible citizens feel they need the protection of a concealed weapon, they should be able to carry one, instead of being restrained by the insulting presumption that they are too irresponsible and irrational to protect themselves.