Another Wisconsin Lawsuit
Another lawsuit from an open carry advocacy group. Wisconsin Carry, Incorporated, which recently filed a Federal lawsuit against the City of Madison and Madison Police Chief Noble Wray in connection with an incident involving five of its members exercising their open-carry rights at a Culvers restaurant, has also filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a woman who brought her gun into a Brookfield church in July.
In that incident, a churchgoer’s call to the police department’s non-emergency number to inquire about the legality of open carry ended with officers drawing their weapons on the woman in the church parking lot, searching her and her car, and issuing a citation for illegally transporting a firearm. The lawsuit claims that’s not an arrestable offense in Wisconsin.
October 11th, 2010 at 11:42 am
Probably might be a better idea to concealed carry at church….. this kind of thing might really be a turn off to new church goers.
October 11th, 2010 at 12:26 pm
Not only that, but the officers probably violated the law and department regulations regarding use of deadly force.
October 11th, 2010 at 12:33 pm
Gunmart: Wisconsin has NO provision for concealed carry. There is no such thing as legal CCW in the land of cheese. You want to carry, it must be OPEN.
October 11th, 2010 at 5:43 pm
It may not be an arrestable offense, but it is illegal to have a gun not in a case anywhere in or on a car in Wisconsin.
October 11th, 2010 at 5:45 pm
And by arrestable, I assume she was actually arrested and charged. The article calls it a citation which is not being arrested. Confusing description of what actually happened here.
October 11th, 2010 at 9:46 pm
It is for this reason that I consider open carry only laws to be a farce, like the Soviet Union’s constitutional rights. In today’s culture, it means no right at all. And, the officers can always find some other ordinance or statute to prosecute over, such as how she transported the weapon in the first place, or “disorderly conduct.”
I think we should not let up until the right to carry openly or concealed is secured even without permits, licenses, or other schemes designed to limit the right.
I hate litigation but I hope the city loses bigtime over this blatant infringement on not only the US constitutional right, but also on rights written into state law.
October 12th, 2010 at 12:41 am
@Maxpwr: If you read the lawsuit complaint in the case, it notes that Ms. Sutterfield’s pistol was in a securely zippered case in her car.
The lawsuit makes clear that Ms. Sutterfield was arrested by the Brookfield PD. The DA declined to prosecute the case because no probable cause existed to stop her and search her car. One of the things being asked for in the lawsuit is that her arrest record be expunged.
http://www.wisconsincarry.org/default.html#
October 12th, 2010 at 12:00 pm
@John
I only read the story summary, not the details of the lawsuit before I commented.
If the firearm was unloaded when it was in the case (and the lawsuit makes no statement to as if the handgun was loaded or not while in the case), then it does seem the cops had no right to make an arrest.
October 12th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
And no right/probable cause to stop her in the first place.
Well, let’s hope Scott Walker is elected governor with a Republican legislature and we can pass Concealed Carry finally.
October 13th, 2010 at 12:34 am
“Well, let’s hope Scott Walker is elected governor with a Republican legislature and we can pass Concealed Carry finally.”
Whaaa? If the cops don’t properly enforce the clear, plain, black-letter law of open carry, WHY would anyone expect them to start when they’ll get a new law and set of regs to tie us gunowners up with?
Push for Wisconsin Gun Owners Constitutional Carry!