Mike
Site Co-Founder
imported post
[align=center]OpenCarry.org[/align]
[align=center]For Immediate Release – October 29, 2008[/b][/align][/b]
[align=center]Time for Milwaukee to Fess Up[/align]
[align=center]Ordinance Banning Open Carry is Preempted by State Law![/b][/align][/b]
OpenCarry.org calls on Mayor Tom Barrett to come clean and admit that Milwaukee’s ordinance against all gun carry is preempted by state law for three reasons.
First, like most state legislatures, Wisconsin has preempted localities on gun control via clear state statute by providing that
[e]xcept as provided in subs. (3) and (4), no political subdivision may enact an ordinance or adopt a resolution that regulates the[/b] sale, purchase, purchase delay, transfer, ownership, use, keeping, possession, bearing[/b], transportation, licensing, permitting,
registration or taxation of any firearm or part of a firearm, including ammunition and reloader components, unless the ordinance or resolution is the same as or similar to, and no more stringent than, a state statute[/b].[1]
And as Wisconsin, like most states, does not ban the holstered “open carry” of handguns, nor require any license to open carry,[2] neither can cities like Milwaukee.
Second, as the U.S. Supreme Court recently in D.C. v. Heller[/i][/b], the Constitutional right to “bear” arms means to “carry” them “openly,” not concealed.[3] But like other states, the Wisconsin courts have held that the Wisconsin’s constitutional right to bear arms is **stronger** than the Second Amendment and reaches to protect even **concealed** carry even where state statute makes concealed carry unlawful.[4]
And third, as noted in this month’s Milwaukee Magazine, Milwaukee District Attorney John Chisolm admits that open carry is not unlawful and Milwaukee Legislative Reference Bureau Manager Barry Zalben suggests the City ordinance should be repealed.[5]
Come on Mayor Tom – you swore to uphold the law, did you not?
[align=center]###[/align]
Media Contacts[/b]:
OpenCarry.org co-founders:
John Pierce: John@OpenCarry.org
Mike Stollenwerk: Mike@OpenCarry.org
[1] Wisconsin Statute 66.0409(2) (emphasis added).
[2] See[/i] http://www.opencarry.org/openc arry.html.
[3]See[/i] opinion at http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/07-2901.pdf on pages 10 and 39-41.
[4] See generally[/i] summary of the “pizza man with a gun” case at http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/29446874.html.
[5] Samantha Hernandez, The Firing Line[/i][/b], Milwaukee Magazine, November, 2008 (attached).
[align=center]OpenCarry.org[/align]
[align=center]For Immediate Release – October 29, 2008[/b][/align][/b]
[align=center]Time for Milwaukee to Fess Up[/align]
[align=center]Ordinance Banning Open Carry is Preempted by State Law![/b][/align][/b]
OpenCarry.org calls on Mayor Tom Barrett to come clean and admit that Milwaukee’s ordinance against all gun carry is preempted by state law for three reasons.
First, like most state legislatures, Wisconsin has preempted localities on gun control via clear state statute by providing that
[e]xcept as provided in subs. (3) and (4), no political subdivision may enact an ordinance or adopt a resolution that regulates the[/b] sale, purchase, purchase delay, transfer, ownership, use, keeping, possession, bearing[/b], transportation, licensing, permitting,
registration or taxation of any firearm or part of a firearm, including ammunition and reloader components, unless the ordinance or resolution is the same as or similar to, and no more stringent than, a state statute[/b].[1]
And as Wisconsin, like most states, does not ban the holstered “open carry” of handguns, nor require any license to open carry,[2] neither can cities like Milwaukee.
Second, as the U.S. Supreme Court recently in D.C. v. Heller[/i][/b], the Constitutional right to “bear” arms means to “carry” them “openly,” not concealed.[3] But like other states, the Wisconsin courts have held that the Wisconsin’s constitutional right to bear arms is **stronger** than the Second Amendment and reaches to protect even **concealed** carry even where state statute makes concealed carry unlawful.[4]
And third, as noted in this month’s Milwaukee Magazine, Milwaukee District Attorney John Chisolm admits that open carry is not unlawful and Milwaukee Legislative Reference Bureau Manager Barry Zalben suggests the City ordinance should be repealed.[5]
Come on Mayor Tom – you swore to uphold the law, did you not?
[align=center]###[/align]
Media Contacts[/b]:
OpenCarry.org co-founders:
John Pierce: John@OpenCarry.org
Mike Stollenwerk: Mike@OpenCarry.org
[1] Wisconsin Statute 66.0409(2) (emphasis added).
[2] See[/i] http://www.opencarry.org/openc arry.html.
[3]See[/i] opinion at http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/07-2901.pdf on pages 10 and 39-41.
[4] See generally[/i] summary of the “pizza man with a gun” case at http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/29446874.html.
[5] Samantha Hernandez, The Firing Line[/i][/b], Milwaukee Magazine, November, 2008 (attached).
