Mike
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http://www.journaltimes.com/articles/2009/05/25/opinion/doc4a1b0bcb9a62a752032312.txt#tp_newCommentAnchor
As it should have been
By The Journal Times Editorial Board
Monday, May 25, 2009 4:21 PM CDT
“Gun!”
We knew that would get your attention. Guns — and gun laws — have a way of doing that in this state.
That’s never been more true than in recent weeks after state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen issued a memo to state district attorneys saying that openly carrying a handgun in public isn’t automatically a crime.
In short order, gun-rights advocates were planning open-carry picnics like the one in an Onalaska park last weekend where hamburgers and holstered sidearms were the order of the day. Both were served up with relish.
It was, according to news accounts from the La Crosse Tribune, a “sober and nonflamboyant group that assembled in a neighborhood park adjacent to Marvin Gardens subdivision.” No Rambos or Dirty Harrys in evidence among the 200 people in attendance, the paper said.
Van Hollen’s informal opinion wasn’t universally greeted with open arms, of course. Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, who twice vetoed concealed carry laws for Wisconsin, sniffed that the state should allow communities to pass ordinances that are more restrictive than state gun regulation laws.
And Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn responded by saying, “My message to my troops is if you see anybody carrying a gun on the streets of Milwaukee, we’ll put them on the ground, take the gun away and then decide whether you have the right to
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document.write('');
carry it.”
Racine, good news town that it is, had to figure into the gunplay, of course, and did so shortly after Van Hollen’s decision when a 42-year-old bicyclist scared off four teens he believed were trying to rob him. The bicyclist rode by the teens in the 1100 block of Grand Avenue. and was knocked from his bike. According to reports, he pulled a revolver that he was openly carrying in a side holster, held it in the air and yelled, “Gun!” The teens then scattered.
The man then flagged down a police car and told them what happened. He was escorted to his home and the police return his gun to him — but referred the incident to the Racine County District Attorney’s office to determine if a prosecution was warranted for having a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school.
After several days of deliberation, the District Attorney’s office said it wouldn’t prosecute, citing the Attorney General’s opinion, the man’s lack of a criminal record and “no showing of irresponsible use of the firearm.”
That’s as it should have been.
The bicyclist case was actually a poster-boy situation for what gun-rights advocates have been saying for years — that firearms can and should be used for self-defense. This was a case with a good outcome: no one was shot, and an honest citizen protected himself from being robbed.
That’s just one case, of course, but it is one case where it worked.
http://www.journaltimes.com/articles/2009/05/25/opinion/doc4a1b0bcb9a62a752032312.txt#tp_newCommentAnchor
As it should have been
By The Journal Times Editorial Board
Monday, May 25, 2009 4:21 PM CDT
“Gun!”
We knew that would get your attention. Guns — and gun laws — have a way of doing that in this state.
That’s never been more true than in recent weeks after state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen issued a memo to state district attorneys saying that openly carrying a handgun in public isn’t automatically a crime.
In short order, gun-rights advocates were planning open-carry picnics like the one in an Onalaska park last weekend where hamburgers and holstered sidearms were the order of the day. Both were served up with relish.
It was, according to news accounts from the La Crosse Tribune, a “sober and nonflamboyant group that assembled in a neighborhood park adjacent to Marvin Gardens subdivision.” No Rambos or Dirty Harrys in evidence among the 200 people in attendance, the paper said.
Van Hollen’s informal opinion wasn’t universally greeted with open arms, of course. Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, who twice vetoed concealed carry laws for Wisconsin, sniffed that the state should allow communities to pass ordinances that are more restrictive than state gun regulation laws.
And Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn responded by saying, “My message to my troops is if you see anybody carrying a gun on the streets of Milwaukee, we’ll put them on the ground, take the gun away and then decide whether you have the right to
var bnum=new Number(Math.floor(99999999 * Math.random())+1);
document.write('');
carry it.”
Racine, good news town that it is, had to figure into the gunplay, of course, and did so shortly after Van Hollen’s decision when a 42-year-old bicyclist scared off four teens he believed were trying to rob him. The bicyclist rode by the teens in the 1100 block of Grand Avenue. and was knocked from his bike. According to reports, he pulled a revolver that he was openly carrying in a side holster, held it in the air and yelled, “Gun!” The teens then scattered.
The man then flagged down a police car and told them what happened. He was escorted to his home and the police return his gun to him — but referred the incident to the Racine County District Attorney’s office to determine if a prosecution was warranted for having a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school.
After several days of deliberation, the District Attorney’s office said it wouldn’t prosecute, citing the Attorney General’s opinion, the man’s lack of a criminal record and “no showing of irresponsible use of the firearm.”
That’s as it should have been.
The bicyclist case was actually a poster-boy situation for what gun-rights advocates have been saying for years — that firearms can and should be used for self-defense. This was a case with a good outcome: no one was shot, and an honest citizen protected himself from being robbed.
That’s just one case, of course, but it is one case where it worked.
