Gun Free Zones are Dangerous
I posted a video about this at YouTube. Here's a letter I am preparing to send to our political leaders:
Governor Walker
Speaker Vos
Senator Shilling
Representative DoyleIsn’t it about time that Wisconsin law stopped treating law abiding citizens like criminals?
I recently received my renewed concealed carry weapons permit and in the process I refreshed my knowledge of the law. I’m one of those guys who takes my responsibilities very seriously and, as a result of that seriousness, I’ve been training with firearms for most of my life.
As a teenager I learned all about hunter safety and I have been practicing those skills ever since. In high school I befriended an ex-Navy SEAL who was a police officer and he took me under his wing and helped teach me some valuable skills. In college I hung around with Marines and learned even more about the tactical deployment of firearms and I continue to hone those skills even in my mid-forties.
Take all of those decades of training and add to it the wisdom that I have acquired over these many years then top it off with my Christian values and everyone I know agrees (even my ultra-Liberal friends) that I am exactly the kind of person they want holding a gun if stuff ever hits the fan. Yet, if I were to cross that imaginary line onto a school property while armed I would suddenly become a felon.
This all came to a head the other day when I took my wife out for lunch and I had to make a very serious decision: Do I commit a felony by driving onto the school parking lot where she works while I’m armed? Do I meet her 1000 feet from the school to follow the letter of the law? Do I disarm, pick her up in the school parking lot, then re-arm once I leave?
While considering my options it hit me: WHY THE HELL DO I EVEN HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS MENTAL EXERCISE IN THE FIRST PLACE? Gun free zones are incredibly stupid because they punish law-abiding citizens like me while gang banging junkies who don’t care about anything, especially the law, might just pull right up and start spraying bullets at a school.
I’m a Christian, father, and husband who is well trained and more law-abiding than just about everyone I know. I don’t even violate the speed limit yet I am treated like a felon the moment I step over some imaginary line at a gun free zone. This is so stupid that it boggles my mind.
Please be a part of the solution to fix these laws so that law-abiding citizens like me who care deeply about my life and those around me will no longer be treated like criminals.
Thank you for your consideration of this matter,
Christopher J. Muller
Onalaska, WI.
There is 1 Comment
This is the reply I received from Representative Steve Doyle...
Dear Chris,
Thank you for your email regarding gun free zones in Wisconsin, specifically on school grounds. I appreciate you taking the time to contact me on this issue.
First let me say that I applaud your diligence and seriousness in continued training of firearm use with regard to your concealed carry permit. Unfortunately, not everyone has taken the time or effort to follow up on this training. As you know, there is no minimum requirement of time for training of firearm use and once licensed for concealed carry there is no additional training required.
The law making it illegal to carry a firearm on school property or within 1000 feet of a school was passed in the Wisconsin Legislature in 1991. Since this was nearly 20 years before I was elected to the Legislature, I don't know what transpired at the time that concerned the Legislature enough to pass this law. I realize that as a law abiding citizen with a concealed carry permit that this is an occasional burden for you to follow this particular law. Currently there are no proposals being considered in the Assembly to change this law. As you may know, I have an A rating with the National Rifle Association, so if any bill like this were brought up for discussion in the Legislature, I would certainly consider voting for it.
Again, thank you for sharing your views on this issue. Please don't hesitate to keep in touch with me on this or any other issues before the State Legislature.
Sincerely,
STEVE DOYLE
State Representative
94th Assembly District
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