Wisconsin Senate must pass CCW and Jim Doyle should sign it, says CCRKBA

BELLEVUE, WA—The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) today urged the Wisconsin State Senate to pass Senate Bill 214, legalizing concealed carry for law-abiding citizens.

CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb and Executive Director Joe Waldron also urged supporters of the measure to flood Gov. Jim Doyle’s office with telephone calls and e-mail, demanding that he sign this important personal protection measure.

“Gov. Doyle’s continued threats to veto this common sense legislation suggest that he simply does not trust the law-abiding citizens of Wisconsin, who elected him to office,” Gottlieb observed. “He didn’t question their judgment when they voted for him, so why should he question their good sense about something as basic as their own personal protection?”

“A great deal of hard, honest work has gone into this legislation,” Waldron added. “It does not appear that Gov. Doyle, and other knee-jerk opponents of self-defense rights have considered the message they are sending to criminals and predators, that they want to keep Wisconsin a thug-friendly state with a target-rich environment.”

According to State Sen. Dave Zien, the bill’s author, if Gov. Doyle follows through on his threatened veto, the Senate will attempt an override. After that, the Assembly must also override. Both votes require a two-thirds majority.

“Wisconsin’s constitution is quite clear on the right to bear arms,” Gottlieb noted. “Gov. Doyle and other opponents of this sensible legislation seem determined to prevent Wisconsin residents from exercising their right for the most important of all reasons, their personal safety and the safety of their families. That’s unconscionable.”

“Thirty-five other states have passed similar right-to-carry legislation,” Waldron stated, “and they have not experienced the kind of doomsday scenarios that concealed carry opponents have predicted. Quite the opposite has occurred, and they know it. Yet, for some reason, they have succumbed to the hysteria and have tried to spread it in their effort to prevent law-abiding Wisconsin residents from having the chance to choose between having the means and opportunity to defend themselves against criminal attack, or to simply remain helpless victims.”

Both gun rights leaders urged Wisconsin citizens to call the governor at (608) 266-1212 or visit his website at www.wisgov.state.wi.us/contact.asp and tell him to sign SB214.