CCW in Wisconsin?
Well, not really:
A Milwaukee County judge found the concealed-weapon prosecution of a pizza driver who shot two would-be robbers in seven months unconstitutional Monday.
The ruling by Circuit Judge Daniel A. Noonan means Andres Vegas won’t face criminal charges in the non-fatal shootings. Prosecutors had filed a misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed weapon after the second shooting, in January, and said Vegas had been warned after a July 2006 shooting not to carry a concealed gun while driving for his job.
However, Noonan agreed with defense attorneys’ contention that Vegas needed the gun to protect himself in his chosen work, citing state Supreme Court decisions that found justified exceptions to the state’s concealed-carry ban.
Les notes: Before anyone jumps to any conclusions, I don’t think this means you’re free to CCW without a license anywhere.
Well, Wisconsin doesn’t issue carry permits. The laws have made it to the governor twice and been vetoed. It will pass some day.
David notes: The court applies the new state constitutional amendment on arms, the Wisconsin caselaw construing it, which essentially requires for concealed carry that the individual’s need to carry outweigh the state’s interest in enforcing CCW bans, and that the situation be such that open carry wasn’t a feasible way to exercise the right to arms.
September 26th, 2007 at 10:35 am
How often is open carry a feasible alternative?
I mean, I’d love to do so, and on rare events I actually can, but when even those who bought a special permission slip from the government risk getting slammed into walls and threatened with false arrest…