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Editor's Notebook: Open Carry
By Rich Grassi
Open carry, while fine in states where there is a history (e.g., Arizona), is likely to "frighten the horses" in states where it is unfamiliar.
One of the last two states to have an outright prohibition on concealed carry by non-sworn citizens, Wisconsin finds itself in an interesting situation. The state's Attorney General recently released an opinion stating that no law prohibits the open carry of sidearms in Wisconsin - subject to a few constraints. As the state apparently has complete preemption over firearms laws, regulations and ordinances in that state, that means that you could conceivably stroll down the street in urban Milwaukee with a hogleg on your hip and be legal.
According to the Milwaukee Chief of Police, you may be legal but he's ordered his officers to "put them on the ground, take the gun away and then decide if the person has a right to carry it" - this according to a piece on the WISN 12 News website, reporting the story.
That's right. Ed Flynn's officers are going to determine the civil rights of people they encounter. Take that, Supreme Court of the United States! Think of the money we can save by shuttering the court, not paying justices, clerks and support staff and not printing all those silly decisions. Chief Ed Flynn can take care of that for anyone in Milwaukee.
He can even thumb his nose at the Wisconsin AG. Whatever you think of Flynn's intellectual horsepower, you have to marvel at his brass.
He raises an issue though; in the absence of statute and regulation, there will be a difference in the way cops handle "investigatory detentions" across the state. It's not like Arizona, a state with a long history and firm grasp of open carry. Besides, can you imagine open carry in Milwaukee in January?
I'm recently returned from Arizona. I wandered about in public. While everyone wasn't (obviously) packing, a number of people were. I took little notice. I spent 30 years around cops - all of them carried guns. Well, except detectives.
In a state like Wisconsin, not the most gun-friendly venue there is, there are quite a few homicides. This happens in states with repressive gun control. While statistics in social sciences are difficult, the relationship between gun oppression and gun crime is almost predictive: more gun oppression, more violent crime. It's never been any other way.
To go from "guns are icky and I'm scared" (usually accompanied by tightly closing the legs together and squirming as if a bathroom emergency is in the offing) to "Hi Pard! Want to look at my new heater?" is a long stretch and it's best accomplished in some kind of order.
First, instead of releasing an opinion like this, the AG could have met with the Chiefs' and Sheriffs' Associations in Wisconsin about this "clarification." If they're hot to meet with legislators to discuss how to approach this, have at it.
Now we have Chiefs making statements like "we'll determine if they have the right to possess a gun" - something that will be raised in a lawsuit and right quick. We have Sheriffs saying their guys will investigate a suspicious circumstance and, in Wisconsin, that's someone wearing a gun. (That wouldn't necessarily fly in Arizona because there open carry often isn't suspicious.)
We have legislators saying they'll pass laws barring open carry and they'll fight a state constitutional battle. The citizens are looking at being stopped by cops for doing something that's legal.
It's a lousy situation.
