Chief Dunford,
I received this email from the Pulaski Chamber of Commerce today.
I would respectfully ask that you would send another email to the chamber of commerce clarifying a few things.
First, your comment "I advise business owners to place signs on your business doors prohibiting entry with a firearm." I hope is just a mis-statement. Open-Carry is legal. Please let business owners know that your only advise is that IF THEY CHOOSE to prohibit firearms in their establishment they should post a sign on their door.
I'm confident MANY businesses in Pulaski would NOT want to deny their law-abiding customers who open-carry entrance into their stores. Its a tough economy, Wisconsinites OVERWHELMINGLY support the right to carry (79% of the voters of Wisconsin approved amending our state constitution in 1998) It read: The people have the right to keep and bear arms for security, defense, hunting, recreation or any other lawful purpose.
I'm sure most of the businesses in Pulaski wouldn't want to, in this economy or any time, deny law-abiding customers into their stores to spend money. Especially when those store owners likely voted in favor of the right to keep AND bear arms in Wisconsin in 1998.
In addition, I would offer to you that Wisconsin is not a police state and that police should not treat every citizen like a criminal "until proven otherwise". The following comment seems to indicate that you and your officers assume guilt until proven innocent. "Open carry is legal in the state of Wisconsin so long as the weapon is clearly visible, you are not a felon, and are not in a mental state of mind to do harm to yourself or others. Obviously the only way we can determine that is to talk to the individual and evaluate him."
A person who is open-carry is demonstrating their adherence to Wisconsin law by NOT concealing their sidearm as they carry for self-defense. While I know police can consensually speak with anyone, it would be unlawful to detain anyone without Reasonable Articulable Suspicion that they have, are, or are about to commit a crime. Open-carrying alone does NOT provide this RAS.
Other municipalities in Wisconsin have and will soon be facing lawsuits for unlawfully detaining or arresting law-abiding open-carriers and illegally searching/seizing their property. Even for just a few minutes.
Carry On,
Nik Clark
Chairman/President - Wisconsin Carry, Inc.
www.wisconsincarry.org