By Dave Workman
Senior Editor
A gun prohibitionist organization in Wisconsin is demanding a change in that state’s fledgling concealed carry law that will allow anti-gunners access to the names of people who possess concealed carry permits.
The revelation came from WEAU news.
The Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort (WAVE) started calling for the law change before the state’s carry statute was six months old. The group ran into a roadblock when the state Department of Justice said the statute, which took effect last Nov. 1, includes a provision that forbids the disclosure of CCP information unless it is related to an on-going criminal case.
Permit applications are nudging the 100,000 mark, and more than 83,000 have been issued, according to WEAU. The state has also denied about two percent of applications so far, but there was no indication why.
Badger State gun owners had struggled for several years to get a concealed carry statute on the books. Twice, former anti-gun Democrat Gov. Jim Doyle had vetoed concealed carry bills, but pro-gun Republican Scott Walker, who had vowed to sign the legislation, did just that in 2011. Almost immediately after the law took effect, the state had tens of thousands of applications to process.
Wisconsin’s adoption of a carry law leaves only Illinois without some form of legal carry for personal protection.
WAVE’s Jeri Bonavia told a reporter she wants to know who is getting CCPs in Wisconsin. In an interview with WEAU, she said “When this law was being discussed we were promised that the people who would get these conceal carry permits would be the most law abiding people in the state. And we want to know whether or not that’s true.”
However, gun owners have a far different take on the issue, and they contend that WAVE wants to violate their privacy. People who apply for, and receive, a CCP go through a criminal background check. One man, Martin Brill, told the news station that even the sheriff’s department cannot just ask someone of they have a permit .
“The sheriff’s department can’t ask anyone of they have a conceal carry when they stop them,” he said. “Why should it be made public?”
WAVE is conducting an on-line campaign to pressure businesses into barring legally-armed citizens from their premises. The campaign, dubbed “Reclaim Wisconsin,” appears to be supported by the anti-gun Joyce Foundation.
According to the Associated Press, Wisconsin is one of 20 states that protect the privacy of legally armed citizens. Twenty-five other states, including California and New York, allow public access to those records.
But a spokesman for the National Rifle Association told the Associated Press that digging into the identities of permit holders is a “function of law enforcement.”
“There’s no need for these people to have their privacy compromised,” said NRA Public Affairs Director Andrew Arulanandam.
He said publicizing the identities of legally-armed citizens is “a blatant invasion of their privacy.”
