WI County Police Association:
The Wisconsin County Police Association will continue to oppose the concealed weapons legislation regardless of the recent amendment that would give law enforcement officers the ability to access a list of permit holders during routine traffic stops through the license plate registration. Although the amendment is important for the safety of officers and civilians alike it does not get to the heart of the concerns the WCPA has with the legislation; it puts more hidden and dangerous weapons on the street.
WI Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs Association:
“The current version of the concealed hand gun bills need to be drastically re-written before being adopted by the full Legislature,” according to LaCrosse County Sheriff Mike Weissenberger.
Weissenberger, president of the Wisconsin Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs Association (WSDSA) said that “Our association, representing well over 2,000 law enforcement officers through out Wisconsin, strongly opposes the bills the way they are written.”
The WSDSA Executive Director, James Cardinal, is also concerned about several other troubling areas in the bills. For example, a person who has been the subject of an involuntary commitment proceeding is eligible to apply for and can potentially be issued a state permit to carry a concealed hand gun after 3 short years.
"One of the scariest things about these bills is that a person who is issued a state permit to carry a concealed hand gun, like a .44 magnum, is not required to maintain absolute sobriety at all times when the person is carrying a concealed weapon.”
"Applicants are only required to participate in a short training session in order to obtain a permit,” according to Jeff Wiswell, Sr. public affairs counsel for the association. “Then, after five years, upon renewal of the license there is no additional training or practice with the weapon ever required.”
Wiswell said that “Law enforcement must train annually, and most train quarterly on each weapon.”
Recently the Congress, in Washington, D.C., passed HR 218 that permits active and retired officers to carry concealed weapons, under very strict conditions. Now this legislation would enact these provisions into state law.
Sheriff Weissenberger said “It’s hard to understand how the state Legislature would enact HR 218 standards on concealed carry by active and retired officers and at the same time allow largely untrained members of the public to carry a concealed hand gun, even when they may be intoxicated.
Weissenberger encouraged the public to carefully read the 66 page bills. “There are literally dozens of other issues in the bills that should be corrected before they are ever passed into law.”
The sheriff closed his statement by saying that “It is up to every citizen to help insure the protections that the current 133 year old prohibition on concealed weapons has provided."
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