Dear Senator Cullen,
Thank you for answering my email with a personal response. I realize that there are a lot of issues on your plate during this session and consequently a lot of people vying for your attention so I'll be as brief as possible.
Concealed Carry of a Weapon (CCW) without a permit (What is being called, "Constitutional Carry") is becoming the choice of more and more states. Vermont, Alaska, and Arizona already have this as law. Kentucky, Wyoming, Utah, Iowa, and now Colorado are serious about adopting this legislation. They realize the importance of recognizing a citizen's God-given right to self-defense and defense of loved ones and that a permit system is unnecessarily costly and is counter to the intent of the Second Amendment.
In Wisconsin, various organizations including Wisconsin Carry, Inc, the United States Concealed Carry Association, The National Rifle Association, WI-Force (NRA state chartered organization), Wisconsin Gun Owners, the Tea Party Coalition, Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty, The Wisconsin Libertarian Party, and the Wisconsin Chapter of Open Carry.Org have ALL endorsed Constitutional Carry for the upcoming legislation regarding concealed carry. In the 2010 Republican state convention in Milwaukee, the state GOP voted overwhelmingly to change the party platform to REMOVE the word "permit" from their stance on the right to carry thus making the party platform conform to Constitutional Carry principles.
In short, many of us do not believe that law abiding citizens should have to pay a tax and register with the government in order to exercise what the US Supreme Court has now affirmed is a fundamental individual right. Also, a permit system would necessitate an expensive expansion of Government to administer the program at a time when smaller government is desirable. In addition, a study has shown that Wisconsin stands to save over a half BILLION dollars a year as a result of the economic benefits of Constitutional Carry. See the attachment, "Savings From Constitutional Carry" for the study.
The members of the Wisconsin Chapter of Open Carry.Org have decided to become proactive in suggesting common sense legislation that would legalize Constitutional Carry without creating other problems. We have crafted the attached model bill, "PPA-F_2-4-11" for the consideration of our lawmakers. It is meant as a guide and a first pass at the legislation. Please look at it and share it with your fellow legislators for their consideration.
Thank you very much for your attention in this important matter,
--
[davegran]