Dial 1911 for Help
18th October 2009, 14:12
When the city's top cop and county's top prosecutor want to open the door for a concealed-carry gun law in Wisconsin, it seems the writing may be on the wall.
Police Chief Edward Flynn and Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm told a City Hall committee last week that allowing concealed-carry permits in Wisconsin could ultimately make things safer for everyone. Specifically, they said, if the state issued such permits under a tough eligibility process and coupled that with more stringent background checks for all gun purchases, the number of illegally sold weapons could be cut across the board.
The news was surprising. Flynn and Chisholm are usually in concert with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett on most public safety initiatives, and Barrett has long opposed concealed carry. With the chief and the DA on board, perhaps they will persuade the mayor to change his mind.
In that case, this might be much more than a trial balloon floated to test public opinion. It could be a sign of what's to come.
Wisconsin is one of only two states that don't issue concealed-carry permits to residents; Illinois is the other. Seeing that both states have major cities - Milwaukee and Chicago - where handgun violence is rampant in some areas, perhaps it has been a smart move so far.
Wisconsin also is one of 14 states and the District of Columbia with no death penalty. I don't know about you, but I don't mind living in a place that dares to be different sometimes.
Some gun-rights advocates have long regarded concealed-carry laws as a Holy Grail for this state. In past years as this debate has raged, I've heard the arguments from a number of pro-gun folks. Most of them appear to be reasonable, but for the life of me, their focus on allowing people to carry hidden guns always escaped me.
Bottom line, I'm just not a gun guy. But my late father was.
The original Eugene Kane, a construction worker by trade, always kept guns around the house. We lived in an area of North Philadelphia that was considered rough by the standards of 30 to 40 years ago but had nowhere near the degree of violence found in some inner cities today.
My father kept a large, heavy pistol - a .357 magnum - along with a shotgun in the basement. He never made it a point to display his weapons at home; they were usually locked up. Although, I do remember a least one occasion in my teen years where my younger brother and I found the pistol lying unattended on top of a dining room bureau.
I don't know if it was loaded but, thankfully, there were never any accidents.
Link to entire article (http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/64620362.html)
The author seems like a nice and fairly reasonable guy, but how do you even write "Seeing that both states have major cities - Milwaukee and Chicago - where handgun violence is rampant in some areas, perhaps it has been a smart move so far."??? IOW "The current policy must be good because people are getting shot left and right"? How does even an anti-gunner compose that sentence?
Police Chief Edward Flynn and Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm told a City Hall committee last week that allowing concealed-carry permits in Wisconsin could ultimately make things safer for everyone. Specifically, they said, if the state issued such permits under a tough eligibility process and coupled that with more stringent background checks for all gun purchases, the number of illegally sold weapons could be cut across the board.
The news was surprising. Flynn and Chisholm are usually in concert with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett on most public safety initiatives, and Barrett has long opposed concealed carry. With the chief and the DA on board, perhaps they will persuade the mayor to change his mind.
In that case, this might be much more than a trial balloon floated to test public opinion. It could be a sign of what's to come.
Wisconsin is one of only two states that don't issue concealed-carry permits to residents; Illinois is the other. Seeing that both states have major cities - Milwaukee and Chicago - where handgun violence is rampant in some areas, perhaps it has been a smart move so far.
Wisconsin also is one of 14 states and the District of Columbia with no death penalty. I don't know about you, but I don't mind living in a place that dares to be different sometimes.
Some gun-rights advocates have long regarded concealed-carry laws as a Holy Grail for this state. In past years as this debate has raged, I've heard the arguments from a number of pro-gun folks. Most of them appear to be reasonable, but for the life of me, their focus on allowing people to carry hidden guns always escaped me.
Bottom line, I'm just not a gun guy. But my late father was.
The original Eugene Kane, a construction worker by trade, always kept guns around the house. We lived in an area of North Philadelphia that was considered rough by the standards of 30 to 40 years ago but had nowhere near the degree of violence found in some inner cities today.
My father kept a large, heavy pistol - a .357 magnum - along with a shotgun in the basement. He never made it a point to display his weapons at home; they were usually locked up. Although, I do remember a least one occasion in my teen years where my younger brother and I found the pistol lying unattended on top of a dining room bureau.
I don't know if it was loaded but, thankfully, there were never any accidents.
Link to entire article (http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/64620362.html)
The author seems like a nice and fairly reasonable guy, but how do you even write "Seeing that both states have major cities - Milwaukee and Chicago - where handgun violence is rampant in some areas, perhaps it has been a smart move so far."??? IOW "The current policy must be good because people are getting shot left and right"? How does even an anti-gunner compose that sentence?