Gun bill hearing is crowded
10:58 PM 9/09/03
Tom Sheehan State government reporter

A concealed carry law in Wisconsin would help "level the playing field" for potential crime victims, such as little old ladies and store owners, said Sen. Dave Zien, R-Eau Claire.

But Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann would just as soon have a thief get away with an armed robbery at a store than have a customer with a gun try to save the day.

"I don't want to be in a store where someone wants to intervene," McCann said at a committee hearing at the state Capitol Tuesday. "The shooting will start, and no one knows who the victims will be."

Legislators on two committees heard testimony on bills to allow citizens who qualify for a permit to legally carry concealed guns. Senate Bill 214 and Assembly Bill 444 would end a 131-year-old state ban on people other than law enforcement officers from carrying concealed weapons.

Zien said more than 100 people appeared to testify, registering roughly at a ratio of 4 to 1 in support. The hearing overflowed from one of the Capitol's largest hearing rooms into three nearby rooms, featuring audio of the proceedings.

Teresa Sweet, from the St. Croix County community of Hammond in northwestern Wisconsin, said a gun could have prevented her from being sexually assaulted.

"Criminals have the level of surprise, and we should have that element of surprise, too," Sweet said of potential female crime victims. Sweet said she didn't report the assault for more than two years because she feared retaliation.

UW-Madison Police Chief Susan Riseling who is also president of the Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association, said that organization opposes the bill. All but three of 180 chiefs who attended a recent meeting voted to oppose the bills, Riseling said.

"We believe 130 years of history show Wisconsin is one of the safest states in the country," said Riseling.

The bills generally would allow Wisconsin residents age 21 and older who haven't been convicted of a felony, to seek a permit from a county sheriff. Applicants would have to go through training and background checks, a Legislative Reference Bureau analysis of the bills show. The bills would not allow possession of concealed weapons in most cases at police, sheriff or state patrol facilities and airports or other places where guns are restricted by federal law.