Opinion: We need to update Wisconsin’s concealed carry gun rules, not make them more extreme

Legislators: Throwing out training requirements is opposed by 81% of Wisconsinites, so why is a bill to do that getting a hearing?

“No way to prevent mass shootings, says the only nation where this regularly happens.” This headline from The Onion is grim, but it also offers a tiny glimmer of hope. Despite how intractable gun violence can feel in the US, every other country is proof that the scale of gun violence we endure is not inevitable. Refusing to address this problem is a political choice. It’s time to make better choices.

Thanks to research, we know the blueprint for reducing gun violence: keep guns out of the hands of those who may harm themselves or others. This includes people with a history of domestic violence or other assaults; people who show evidence of wanting to harm themselves or others; and people directly involved in illicit markets associated with violence, such as drug dealing and human trafficking. 

Prevention also requires ensuring all lawful gun owners take steps to secure firearms so that they are not stolen or end up in the hands of people who intend to use them for harm. To achieve this, we need a regulatory framework that prioritizes safe storage, robust background checks on every gun sale, and the ability to temporarily remove guns from people in crisis or who threaten to harm others. 

For example, while some legislators want to do away with gun safety laws altogether, we believe it is time to modernize, not repeal, Wisconsin’s decade-old concealed carry permit system. Assembly Bill 484 requires – for the first time – live-fire training in order to carry a concealed weapon, increases awareness of the risk of gun suicides, and provides more robust safety training so that those who choose to carry a gun in public do so safely. 

By contrast, Assembly Bill 609, a Republican-led bill, eliminates any permit or training requirements to carry a concealed weapon in public. In a sign of how extreme the Republican Party has become, Governor Scott Walker argued in 2017 that he opposed this position. In a May 2022 Marquette Poll of Wisconsin voters, permitless carry was favored by just 19% and opposed by 81% – and yet the Republican bill had a hearing on January 7th, while the other sits idle in the very same committee. 

Even in the only nation where mass shootings regularly happen, and where gun violence is the leading cause of death among children, there are things we can do. We believe in, and responsible gun owners support, data-driven firearm safety policies and Republicans should, too. As legislators, we must stop providing opportunities for the infamous Onion headline to run, and should instead take responsibility for making our state safer.