Dear Representatives, Senators, and Governor Walker,
I have sent out e-mails to most of you regarding this upcoming legislation on concealed carry in Wisconsin. Now that I have read the bills thoroughly and had a chance to scrutinize every line, I feel it is prudent that I send you another letter regarding your support of said legislation. While I have had a chance to review LRB-2007/1, LRB-2033/1, and LRB-2027/1, I feel that there are some items that desperately need to be addressed. As I have said in previous e-mails I am a proponent of Constitutional Carry, and with the review of these bills it would seem that there is one that addresses that. However, I must express that while the other 2 bills have licensing, there is no license regrading my openly carrying a firearm at this point in time. So in effect, as I live in a tourist town and it is not always acceptable for people to know that I am lawfully carrying a firearm, in order to be socially responsible I would have to pay a fee.
Also, I am the owner and operator of a growing business as a firearms instructor, and I do have quite a bit of community involvement, including fund raisers and community affairs events. Creating a standard in which people are "Required" to obtain a license and pay a fee only decreases my business by making the average person only want to do the absolute minimum amount of training. This was expressed to me many times over at the Special Olympics fun shoot and fundraiser that I held this past weekend. I had no less than 15 potential students say that if they were required to take a course, they would only do the minimum. So I must express yet again as a business man that non constitutional carry would adversely effect my ability to make a future for my family. Not to mention the fact that anything other than an "Optional" permit would in effect reduce the rights that we already have here in Wisconsin.
I am of the opinion that putting a tax on my rights is absurd, and creates more of a financial strain on myself and my family. And I believe that limiting my right to be socially responsible by covering my means of defending myself and my family by requiring my to pay a "Clothing Tax" is unreasonable. While I have received responses from some of you in the past regarding this issue, and I have talked to some of you face to face, I would like you to understand that I am someone who is in good standing throughout the state, and I have talked at length with a great number of my fellow Wisconsin residents about this same issue. And outside of the other instructors in the state who are looking to increase their profits, and the anti self defense movement, I have yet to meet someone who is in favor of having to pay to obtain a permit to wear a jacket or shirt over their firearm.
The only course I can see where obtaining a permit would be appropriate would be for reciprocity with other states for residents who travel often to out of state locations. Outside of this (and only this) reason, there is no good cause for making responsible, law abiding citizens pay to wear clothing that may obstruct the general view of a firearm. So I would respectfully ask as a father who wants to keep his child safe, as a law abiding resident of Wisconsin, as a veteran, and as a business man to please support LRB-2007/1 so that we do not have to pay to be responsible.
I would greatly appreciate any response from your office in regards to this e-mail.
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