As the state Assembly prepares to decide whether to join the state Senate in overriding Gov. Jim Doyle's veto of a bill which would end a 130-year ban on concealed weapons, some public and law enforcement officials are urging support of the veto as the bill faces its final hurdle to becoming a law.
The Assembly needs 66 votes to overturn Doyle's veto of the concealed carry bill. The Senate voted to override Jan. 22 and an Assembly vote could come today.
Yet UW-Madison administrators and local leaders say they do not want the bill to become law. The potential effects of an override have spurred intense lobbying by groups as a possible historic vote draws near.
Under the bill, weapons would be prohibited in university buildings but not banned on campus grounds, which concerns campus admistrators.
\I think we've been out ... pretty publicly in opposition to the bill, just because of the complications it would cause to campus,"" UW-Madison Communications spokesperson John Lucas said.
UW Police Capt. Glen Miller said concealed weapons are not needed.
""We really don't think it's appropriate to have firearms on campus and that has been a rule of the UW regents for quite a long time, so we feel that that's appropriate,"" Miller said. He added the police do not currently see many problems on campus with weapons, but that he felt more weapons could lead to more accidents.
However, one UW-Madison student group has taken an opposite position. Members of Student Alliance for Firearm Education and Responsibility have been lobbying state legislators through e-mail and meetings at the Capitol.
""If more law-abiding citizens are allowed to carry concealed weapons, as is their natural right for self-defense, it will reduce crime, especially violent crime,"" SAFER president Anthony Hamilton said, adding crime rates had decreased in other states with concealed carry.
Hamilton said criminals would not know who is armed, and thus may be more hesitant to attack.
Hamilton said banning weapons in university buildings was appropriate, and that UW-Madison should provide weapon storage facilities for those who choose to arm themselves. He said several SAFER members plan to apply for permits if the veto is overturned.
""If they'd have done the right thing last week, we wouldn't have to be standing out here,"" remarked Dane County Sheriff Hamblin at a press conference Monday held against a backdrop of snowfall.
Hamblin and other county and city leaders gathered outside Hilldale Shopping Center, 702 N. Midvale Blvd., to express support of the governor's veto. The location intended to serve as a reminder that should the bill become law, weapons would be allowed in shopping centers and grocery stores.
Hamblin said conducting background checks for permit applicants would in effect establish a new bureaucracy within the sheriff's office, something for which sheriffs do not have resources.
Hamblin said he did not think the crime rate would be affected if the law passes, but expressed concern that a citizen wielding a gun in defense may appear dangerous to police.
The governor spoke with law enforcement officials in Cudahy Monday morning urging support of his veto.
""Representatives will make a simple choice: Stand with law enforcement and protect public safety, or stand with the gun lobby,"" Doyle said in a press release. He also issued a statement saying the bill would reduce penalties for citizens found intoxicated and bearing a weapon.
When the bill passed the Assembly in November, the vote was 64-35. If the Assembly overrides the veto, it will be the first time state Legislature has overturned a veto in more than 17 years. Wisconsin is currently one of four states that have a ban on carrying concealed weapons.
