Permit-less concealed carry plan passes Wisconsin Senate committee
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A Wisconsin Senate committee voted 3-2 Tuesday to pass a bill that would allow people to carry a concealed gun in the state without a permit or training.
Right now, both of those are required in the state. Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, who chairs the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee, said the measure would affect people in rural areas more than in urban ones like Milwaukee.
"For those guys that want to carry up north, they're going to go out hunting on the back 40,” Wanggaard said. “So ok, they put a cone on and now they're arrested for carrying concealed. They're not causing a problem; they're not doing anything, not a problem. But if somebody is doing something illegal, then they don't get the exemption."
Federal gun laws prohibit anyone from concealed carrying within 1,000 feet of specific places like school zones, police stations and courthouses.
Democrats say the changes aren’t what people in Wisconsin want, and could increase violence.
"Gun violence in Milwaukee is also about access to weapons, but I do believe that allowing people to not have training, and to not have a permit, could potentially exacerbate that," said Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee.
The bill would also allow concealed carry, with a permit, in school zones when there are now classes, like when parents are picking up their kids. It would need to pass both the Senate and Assembly floor before it could be sent to Gov. Scott Walker’s desk.