1 An Act to repeal 23.33 (3)(e), 29.089, (2), 941.23, 941.235, 941.237, 941.24; to amend 939.22
2 (10), to repeal and recreate 948.605, 167.31 and to create xx.xx of the statues; relating to: the
3 common law right and the Wisconsin and United States constitutionally recognized rights to
4 carry and use a weapon for self defense.
LRB Analysis
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in the senate and assemble, do enact as follows.
1 Section 1. 23.33 (3)(e) of the statutes is repealed.
2 Section 2. 29.089 (2) of the statutes is repealed.
3 Section 3. 167.31 of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:
4 167.31 Safe use and transportation of firearms and bows.
5 (1) DEFINITIONS. In this section:
6 (a) “Aircraft” has the meaning given under s. 114.002 (3).
7 (c) “Firearm” means a weapon that acts by force of gunpowder.
8 (d) “Highway” has the meaning given under s. 340.01 (22).
9 (f) “Peace officer” has the meaning given in s. 939.22 (22).
10 (g) “Private security person” has the meaning given in s. 440.26 (1m) (h).
11 (h) “Roadway” has the meaning given under s. 340.01 (54).
12 (i) “Street” means a highway that is within the corporate limits of a city or village.
13 (j) “Transmission facility” means any pipe, pipeline, duct, wire, cable, line, conduit, pole, tower,
14 equipment, or other structure used to transmit or distribute electricity to or for the public or
15 to transmit or distribute communications or data to or from the public.
16 (k) “Vehicle” has the meaning given for “motor vehicle” in s. 29.001 (57).
17 (2) PROHIBITIONS; HIGHWAYS AND ROADWAYS.
18 (a) Except as provided in sub. (5) (a), (b), (c), (d), (g), and (h),no person may discharge a firearm
19 or shoot a bolt or an arrow from a bow or crossbow from or across a highway.
20 (b) A person who violates pars. (a) is subject to a forfeiture of not more than $100.
21 (3) PROHIBITIONS; AIRCRAFT.
22 (a) Except as provided in sub. (4), no person may discharge a firearm or shoot a bolt or an arrow
23 from a bow or crossbow in or from an aircraft.
24 (b) A person who violates par. (a) shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned not
25 more than 90 days or both.
26 (4) PROHIBITIONS; TRANSMISSION FACILITIES.
27 (a) Except as provided in sub. (5) (a), (b) and (c), no person may intentionally discharge a firearm
28 in the direction of a transmission facility.
29 (b) A person who violates par. (a) and causes damage to a transmission facility is subject to a
30 forfeiture of not more than $100.
31 (c) In addition to any forfeiture imposed under par. (b), the court shall revoke any hunting
32 license under ch. 29 that is issued to the person found in violation for a period of one year.
33 (d) In addition to any forfeiture imposed under par. (b) and the revocation required under par.
34 (c), the court shall enter a restitution order that requires the defendant to pay to the owner of
35 The transmission facility the reasonable cost of the repair or replacement of the transmission
36 facility.
37 (5) EXCEPTIONS.
38 (a) Subsections (2) and (3) do not apply to any of the following who, in the line of duty, or
39 During an act of lawful self defense, discharge a firearm from or across a highway, street or
40 roadway:
41 1. Any citizen who may lawfully possess a firearm under the Wisconsin state statutes.
42 2. A member of the U.S. armed forces.
43 3. A member of the national guard.
44 4. A peace officer.
45 5. A private security person who meets all of the following requirements:
46 a. He or she holds either a private detective license issued
47 under s. 440.26 (2) (a) 2. or a private security permit issued under
48 s. 440.26 (5).
49 b. He or she holds a certificate of proficiency to carry a firearm issued by the department of
50 regulation and licensing.
51 c. He or she is performing his or her assigned duties or responsibilities.
52 d. He or she is wearing a uniform that clearly identifies him or her as a private security person.
53 e. His or her firearm is in plain view, as defined by rule by the department of regulation and
54 licensing.
55 (b) Subsection (4) does not apply to the holder of a scientific research license under s.169.25 or
56 a scientific collector permit under s. 29.614 who is using a net gun or tranquilizer gun in an
57 activity related to the purpose for which the license or permit was issued.
58 (c) Subsection (2) (a) does not apply to a state employee or agent, or to a federal employee or
59 agent, who is acting within the scope of his or her employment or agency, who is authorized by
60 the department of natural resources to take animals in the wild for the purpose of controlling
61 the spread of disease in animals and who is hunting in an area designated by the department of
62 natural resources as a chronic wasting disease eradication zone, except that this subdivision
63 does not authorize the discharge of a firearm or the shooting of a bolt or arrow from a bow or
64 crossbow across a state trunk highway, county trunk highway, or paved town highway.
65 (d) Subsection (2) (a) does not apply to aholder of a Class A or Class B permit under s. 29.193 (2)
66 who is hunting from a stationary vehicle may load and discharge a firearm or shoot a bolt or an
67 arrow within 50 feet of the center of a roadway if all of the following apply:
68 1. The roadway is part of a county highway, a town highway or any other highway that is not
69 part of a street or of a state trunk or federal highway.
70 2. The vehicle is located off the roadway and is not in violation of any prohibition or restriction
71 that applies to the parking, stopping or standing of the vehicle under ss. 346.51 to 346.55 or
72 under a regulation enacted under s. 349.06 or 349.13.
73 3. The holder of the permit is not hunting game to fill the tag of another person.
74 4. The holder of the permit has obtained permission from any person who is the owner or lessee
75 of private property across or on to which the holder of the permit intends to discharge a firearm
76 or shoot a bolt or an arrow.
77 5. The vehicle bears special registration plates issued under s. 341.14 (1), (1a), (1e), or (1m) or
78 displays a sign that is at least 11 inches square on which is conspicuously written “disabled
79 hunter”.
80 6. The holder of the permit discharges the firearm or shoots the bolt or arrow away from and
81 not across or parallel to the roadway.
82 (e) For the purposes of pars (d) , a person may stop a vehicle off the roadway on the left side of
83 the highway.
84 (f) For the purposes of par. (d) 4., “private property” does not include property leased for
85 hunting by the public, land that is subject to a contract under subch. I of ch. 77, or land that is
86 subject to an order designating it as managed forest land under subch. VI of ch. 77 and that is
87 not designated as closed to the public under s. 77.83 (1).
88 (g) Subsection (2) (a) does not apply to a person who is legally hunting small game with a
89 muzzle−loading firearm or with a shotgun loaded with shotshell or chilled shot number BB
90 or smaller, if the surface of the highway or roadway is anything other than concrete or blacktop.
91 (h) A person who is fishing with a bow and arrow may shoot an arrow from a bow within 50 feet
92 of the center of a roadway if the person does not shoot the arrow from the roadway or across
93 a highway.
94
95 Section 4. 931.23 of the statutes is repealed.
96 Section 5. 931.235 of the statutes is repealed.
97 Section 6. 931.237 of the statutes is repealed.
98 Section 7. 931.24 of the statutes is repealed.
99 Section 8. 939.22 (10) of the statutes is amended to read:
100 (10) “Dangerous weapon” means any loaded firearm[strike], whether
101 loaded or unloaded[/strike]; any device designed as a weapon and capable
102 of producing death or great bodily harm; any ligature or other
103 instrumentality used on the throat, neck, nose, or mouth of another
104 person to impede, partially or completely, breathing or circulation
105 of blood; any electric weapon, as defined in s. 941.295 (4); or any
106 other device or instrumentality which, in the manner it is used or
107 intended to be used, is calculated or likely to produce death or
108 great bodily harm.
109 Section 9. 948.605 of the statues is repealed and recreated to read:
110 948.605 Firearms and school zones
111 (1) DEFINITIONS. In this section:
112 (a) “Firearm” does not include any beebee or pellet-firing gun that expels a projectile through the force of air pressure or any starter pistol.
113 (b) “School” has the meaning given in s. 948.61 (1)(b).
114 (c) “School zone” means in or on the grounds of a school.
115 (2) COMMISSION OF A CRIME IN A SCHOOL ZONE.
116 (a) Any individual who uses a firearm in commission of a crime in a school zone is guilty of a
117 Class I felony.
118 (3) Establishment of individual licensure.
119 In consideration that the right to keep and bear arms is protected and reserved to the people in
120 Article I, section 25, of the Wisconsin constitution and by the second amendment of the United
121 States constitution, a person who has not been convicted of a violent, felony crime and who is
122 lawfully able to own or to possess a firearm under the Wisconsin constitution is considered to
123 be individually licensed and verified by the state of Wisconsin within the meaning of the
124 Provisions regarding individual licensure and verification in the federal Gun-Free School Zones
125 Act.
126 Section 10. Xx.xx of the statues is created to read:
127 Xx.xx Home protection; use of deadly force; presumption of fear of death or great bodily harm.
128 (1) DEFINITIONS. In this section:
129 (a) “Dwelling” means a building or conveyance of any kind, including any attached porch,
130 whether the building or conveyance is temporary or permanent, mobile or immobile, which has
131 a roof over it, including a tent, and is designed to be occupied by people lodging therein at night.
132 (b) “Residence” means a dwelling in which a person resides either temporarily or permanently or is visiting as an invited guest.
133 (c) “Vehicle” means a conveyance of any kind, whether or not motorized, which is designed to transport people or property.
134 (2) A person is presumed to have held a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great
135 bodily harm to himself or herself or another when using defensive force that is intended or likely
136 to cause death or great bodily harm to another if:
137 (a) The person against whom the defensive force was used was in the process of unlawfully and
138 forcefully entering, or had unlawfully and forcibly entered, a dwelling, residence, or occupied
139 vehicle, or if that person had removed or was attempting to remove another against that
140 person’s will from the dwelling, residence, or occupied vehicle; and
141 (b) The person who uses defensive force knew or had reason to believe that an unlawful and
142 forcible entry or unlawful and forcible act was occurring or had occurred.
143 (3) The presumption set forth in subsection (1) does not apply if:
144 (a) The person against whom the defensive force is used has the right to be in or is a lawful
145 resident of the dwelling, residence, or vehicle, such as an owner, lessee, or titleholder, and there
146 is not an injunction for protection from domestic violence or a written pretrial supervision order
147 of no contact against that person; or
148 (b) The person or persons sought to be removed is a child or grandchild, or is otherwise in the
149 lawful custody or under the lawful guardianship of, the person against whom the defensive
150 force is used; or
151 (c) The person who uses defensive force is engaged in an unlawful activity or is using the
152 dwelling, residence, or occupied vehicle to further an unlawful activity; or
153 (d) The person against whom the defensive force is used is a law enforcement officer who
154 enters or attempts to enter a dwelling, residence, or vehicle in the performance of his or her
155 official duties and the officer identified himself or herself in accordance with any applicable law
156 or the person using force knew or reasonably should have known that the person entering or
157 attempting to enter was a law enforcement officer.
158 (4) A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place
159 where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her
160 ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is
161 necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to
162 prevent the commission of a forcible felony.
163 (5) A person who unlawfully and by force enters or attempts to enter a person’s dwelling,
164 residence, or occupied vehicle is presumed to be doing so with the intent to commit an unlawful
165 act involving force or violence.
