J.Gleason
Banned
http://www.iwantthenews.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=86&ArticleID=13376&TM=39861.11
10/7/2010 3:57:00 AM
People testing constitutional right
By Mark Sherry
TC News editor
A New Holstein man has been walking around the community and entering stores and restaurants with a handgun holstered by his side.
That has prompted several telephone calls to the New Holstein Police Department, not unlike a recent incident in Madison where a 62-year-old woman visiting a local Culver's restaurant saw several people outside with guns in holsters. She also called the police, who arrived and cited two of the men for obstructing an officer.
In New Holstein, Madison and elsewhere in Wisconsin, people are seeing other people wearing guns at their side. The answer they get when they call the police is the same and often surprises them-it is perfectly legal to do so, as long as some obvious conditions are met.
In April 2009, Wisconsin Attorney General J. B. Van Hollen released an advisory memorandum which received some media attention at the time but which since has been largely forgotten. Now that some people are testing their constitutional right to openly carry a firearm, Van Hollen's informal opinion is being dusted off by law enforcement and others around the state.
As amended in 1998, the Wisconsin Constitution provides that the "people have the right to keep and bear arms for security, defense, hunting, recreation or any other lawful purpose." A Wisconsin citizen has the right to openly carry a firearm for any of those purposes "absent the application of a reasonable regulation properly imposed as an exercise of police power."
Some early tests of the law resulted in police officers issuing disorderly conduct charges, which spurred Van Hollen to issue his statement in 2009. Van Hollen pointed out that in order for a person to be displaying disorderly conduct, they must be engaging in "violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, unreasonably loud, or similar disorderly conduct. Second, it must prove that the defendant's conduct tends to cause or provoke a disturbance."
Circumstance must be weighed
Van Hollen said the decision on whether or not to charge a person with disorderly conduct depends on the totality of the circumstances, but he added, "The Department believes that mere open carry of a firearm, absent additional facts and circumstances, should not result in a disorderly conduct charge."
Van Hollen used this example: A hunter opening carrying a rifle or shotgun on his property during hunting season while quietly tracking game should not face a disorderly conduct charge. But if the same hunter carries the same rifle or shotgun through a crowded street while barking at a passerby, the conduct might lost its constitutional protection. He said the same concepts should apply to handguns.
A man in West Allis wore a holstered handgun while doing lawnwork. He was cited for disorderly conduct but was found not guilty.
New Holstein Police Chief Brian Reedy said his department received a phone call recently about a man walking on Hoover Street with a holstered handgun. The caller was informed that the man was not breaking the law, but the chief said he does not want to inhibit such phone calls, either.
This is a nice article, The New Holstein man mentioned here is my brother Bob Gleason. I recently got him interested in OCing and he has done it daily every since. Way to go Bobby! And thanks Mark for the article.
10/7/2010 3:57:00 AM
People testing constitutional right
By Mark Sherry
TC News editor
A New Holstein man has been walking around the community and entering stores and restaurants with a handgun holstered by his side.
That has prompted several telephone calls to the New Holstein Police Department, not unlike a recent incident in Madison where a 62-year-old woman visiting a local Culver's restaurant saw several people outside with guns in holsters. She also called the police, who arrived and cited two of the men for obstructing an officer.
In New Holstein, Madison and elsewhere in Wisconsin, people are seeing other people wearing guns at their side. The answer they get when they call the police is the same and often surprises them-it is perfectly legal to do so, as long as some obvious conditions are met.
In April 2009, Wisconsin Attorney General J. B. Van Hollen released an advisory memorandum which received some media attention at the time but which since has been largely forgotten. Now that some people are testing their constitutional right to openly carry a firearm, Van Hollen's informal opinion is being dusted off by law enforcement and others around the state.
As amended in 1998, the Wisconsin Constitution provides that the "people have the right to keep and bear arms for security, defense, hunting, recreation or any other lawful purpose." A Wisconsin citizen has the right to openly carry a firearm for any of those purposes "absent the application of a reasonable regulation properly imposed as an exercise of police power."
Some early tests of the law resulted in police officers issuing disorderly conduct charges, which spurred Van Hollen to issue his statement in 2009. Van Hollen pointed out that in order for a person to be displaying disorderly conduct, they must be engaging in "violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, unreasonably loud, or similar disorderly conduct. Second, it must prove that the defendant's conduct tends to cause or provoke a disturbance."
Circumstance must be weighed
Van Hollen said the decision on whether or not to charge a person with disorderly conduct depends on the totality of the circumstances, but he added, "The Department believes that mere open carry of a firearm, absent additional facts and circumstances, should not result in a disorderly conduct charge."
Van Hollen used this example: A hunter opening carrying a rifle or shotgun on his property during hunting season while quietly tracking game should not face a disorderly conduct charge. But if the same hunter carries the same rifle or shotgun through a crowded street while barking at a passerby, the conduct might lost its constitutional protection. He said the same concepts should apply to handguns.
A man in West Allis wore a holstered handgun while doing lawnwork. He was cited for disorderly conduct but was found not guilty.
New Holstein Police Chief Brian Reedy said his department received a phone call recently about a man walking on Hoover Street with a holstered handgun. The caller was informed that the man was not breaking the law, but the chief said he does not want to inhibit such phone calls, either.
This is a nice article, The New Holstein man mentioned here is my brother Bob Gleason. I recently got him interested in OCing and he has done it daily every since. Way to go Bobby! And thanks Mark for the article.
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