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Help me understand the law

DerakJ

New member
Joined
Aug 8, 2010
Messages
2
Location
Rock county
can any law abidding person carry a handgun on their hip in wisconsin without a permit ? or do you need the permit. Also while carring the gun does the chamber need to be empty , you need to cycle the round into the chamber when needed. is there somewhere i can read up and about the how to carrry a handgun properly.
 

Wisconsin Carry Inc. - Chairman

Wisconsin Carry, Inc.
Joined
Jan 23, 2010
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Derak,

Welcome, and thank-you for stopping in! Looks like you heard about open-carry from the Gazette article?

You do not need a permit. As long as you are legally allowed to own a firearm you may carry openly (not concealed).

You can have a round in the chamber. That is perfectly legal.

here is a brochure I put together that gives you the basic information needed to carry in Wisconsin:
View attachment WCI Tri-Fold rev 0.pdf

That is a 2 page brochure. Its meant to be tri-folded, so the columns in the brochure don't appear in the correct order unless you print the brochure (2 sided) and fold it properly. But all the info is there.
 
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paul@paul-fisher.com

Regular Member
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
4,049
Location
Chandler, AZ
Welcome to the forum.

IANAL (I am not a lawyer) but the short answer is yes, any law abiding person 18 years old or older can carry a fully loaded, round in the chamber handgun in an open way.

To be safe, you should have it in a holster, however open carry is open carry and it's technically not illegal to hand carry.

There are 5 places you can't carry:

1. In a class b liquor establishment without permission from the owner (bar, restaurant that serves alcohol)
2. In a car. It has to be unloaded and encased.
3. Within 1000' of a K-12 public school unless unloaded and encassed.
4. In a government building
5. In a state park.

Others will chime in but that is the basics.
 

phred

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2010
Messages
768
Location
North Central Wisconsin, ,
can any law abidding person carry a handgun on their hip in wisconsin without a permit ? or do you need the permit. Also while carring the gun does the chamber need to be empty , you need to cycle the round into the chamber when needed. is there somewhere i can read up and about the how to carrry a handgun properly.

Derek,

Welcome, - good questions

these questions have been answered before in more detail on this forum but here is the short of it

You do not need a permit, but you must not be a felon or otherwise restricted from possessing firearms.

You cannot have loaded gun in a vehicle and it must be fully enclosed and fastened.

You cannot carry in a government building.

You may not be within 1000 ft of school property while carrying unless unloaded and encased except on private property.

You cannot carry concealed.

You may not carry in Class B Liquor establishment unless you have prior authorization to do so

You may not carry in a state park or fish hatchery.

The gun may be fully loaded.

You also need to know when you can and cannot use it. You or those with you must be in danger of death or grievous bodily harm. If flight from danger is apparent, you must flee. No lesser force will stop the threat.
 
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Wisconsin Carry Inc. - Chairman

Wisconsin Carry, Inc.
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Jan 23, 2010
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You may not be within 1000 ft of school property while carrying unless unloaded and encased.

except on private property. You CAN carry within 1000ft of a school if you are on private property.

Also, the law states you must "knowingly" violate a school zone.

If you go to a town you are not familiar with and carry, and the police stop you and tell you that you are within a school zone, clearly articulate that you didn't know you were in a school zone.

Obviously if you are standing across the street from a school, you can't say "I didn't know" but if you are 2 streets over and had no idea the school was there, the law provides an exception for you.

Wisconsin Carry has filed a federal lawsuit to challenge the GFSZ because we believe they are unconstitutional. That lawsuit is currently working its way through the federal litigation process.
 

johnny amish

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Welcome aboard Derak, education is priceless and you have come to the right place. The men and women on this forum are great, if you have any questions just ask, we will help in any way possible. Carry on and carry proud.
 

DerakJ

New member
Joined
Aug 8, 2010
Messages
2
Location
Rock county
thanks

thanks to everybody that responded to my questions . Big help ... now can you help me with the fear of walking around town for the first time and everybody looking at me and the police wondering why does he have a gun.....
 

protias

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2008
Messages
7,308
Location
SE, WI
It has happened to all of us. The best places to carry at are Walmart and Starbucks as they are carry friendly. IIRC (if I recall correctly), there are a couple members by you.
 
M

McX

Guest
you may want to ammend; you can not carry concealed, to you can carry concealed on private property, if you are the property owner, his agent, or designatee. public concealed is a big no no.
 

paul@paul-fisher.com

Regular Member
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
4,049
Location
Chandler, AZ
thanks to everybody that responded to my questions . Big help ... now can you help me with the fear of walking around town for the first time and everybody looking at me and the police wondering why does he have a gun.....

As I said, come on over on 8/29 to Delavan and we will help you out.
 

Wisconsin Carry Inc. - Chairman

Wisconsin Carry, Inc.
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Jan 23, 2010
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thanks to everybody that responded to my questions . Big help ... now can you help me with the fear of walking around town for the first time and everybody looking at me and the police wondering why does he have a gun.....

The Janesville police are already well aware OC is legal. We have members who carry in Janesville all the time, so others are already carrying in Janesville without incident.

Carrying in public the first time will make you very self-conscious that first time, but everyone else will just go about their normal business.

Here is a video of my girlfriend carrying in a crowded grocery store.

As you can see, no one cares.

I was carrying as well while I shot the video.

http://www.youtube.com/wisconsincarry

A couple things that I did the first couple times I carried.

Use a grocery cart. Gives your hands something to do. Its VERY domestic and un-intimidating.

Also, Gander Mountain is a GREAT place to OC for the first time.

Gander Mountain has been exceptionally supportive of open-carry since the AG memo over a year ago.

They even have signs on their door that let you know that if you open-carry in the store you DO NOT have to stop and check your sidearm. (you DO need to stop and check a gun brought in for service as that gun will be handled and they want to make sure its unloaded)

But your open-carried gun should stay in its holster at all times except when you load/unload at your vehicle (or if you need to defend yourself)
 
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Teamtnt2004

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2010
Messages
77
Location
Janesville, Wisconsin, USA
can any law abidding person carry a handgun on their hip in wisconsin without a permit ? or do you need the permit. Also while carring the gun does the chamber need to be empty , you need to cycle the round into the chamber when needed. is there somewhere i can read up and about the how to carrry a handgun properly.

Derak I OC in Janesville every single day. If you would like to bust your OC cherry with someone let me know. I know what it was like for me the first time, a little nerve racking. But just remember, your completely legal. It's also nice to print off those brochures and have them on you when you OC. If someone else is interested you can give them a pamphlet. Also know for sure where you can and cannot carry. This will help you if someone asks you questions. There's only 5 places, know them by heart.

Carry ON
 

johnny amish

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Mar 9, 2010
Messages
1,024
Location
High altitude of Vernon County, ,
thanks to everybody that responded to my questions . Big help ... now can you help me with the fear of walking around town for the first time and everybody looking at me and the police wondering why does he have a gun.....

Derak everything that you are feeling is normal. It is to bad that society has tried to make us feel like a crimminal when we have the constitution on our side. You have to remember that you are doing nothing wrong, YOU ARE NOT THE CRIMMINAL. I can tell you from experience that most people will not notice you, and the ones that do won't care. The most common responce that I recieve when oc'ing is not fear but curiosity. Fact is, most people know less about oc'ing than you do. If you can, take a friend with you, even if he/she does not carry. Many times when out with friend or family I am the only one oc'ing. It does not matter if you carry for political reasons or self protection, you should always feel proud to carry. It is an honor to have you on our team. Carry on and carry proud.
 

TyGuy

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2010
Messages
775
Location
, ,
Sorry to jump in, but regarding schools...

Is is pre-school through college?
pre-school through high-school?
kindergarten through college?
kindergarten through high-school?
1st through college?
1st through high-school?

What about public/private?

From what I have read on here I THINK that we need only worry about PUBLIC schools 1st through High-School. Is that correct?
 

paul@paul-fisher.com

Regular Member
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
4,049
Location
Chandler, AZ
Sorry to jump in, but regarding schools...

Is is pre-school through college?
pre-school through high-school?
kindergarten through college?
kindergarten through high-school?
1st through college?
1st through high-school?

What about public/private?

From what I have read on here I THINK that we need only worry about PUBLIC schools 1st through High-School. Is that correct?

948.6 1 (b) defines it as follows:
“School” means a public school, parochial or private
school, or tribal school, as defined in s. 115.001 (15m), which provides
an educational program for one or more grades between
grades 1 and 12 and which is commonly known as an elementary
school, middle school, junior high school, senior high school, or
high school.
 
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