Wisconsin may soon join the 46 other states that allow licensed citizens to possess concealed weapons after the state Assembly voted 64-32 early Wednesday morning to approve Senate Bill 403.
Lawmakers passed the legislation at approximately 3:10 a.m. after contentious debate and lengthy deliberation regarding proposed amendments. Republicans wrote an amendment they hoped would aid in obtaining a two-thirds majority to override Gov. Jim Doyle's promised veto.
The amendment attached to the bill increases the size of gun-free zones around schools, lowers the blood alcohol limit for carrying weapons, sets harsher penalties for lying on registration forms and mandates recertification every five years for licensees.
Melanie Fonder, spokesperson for the governor, said the amendment's adoption does not increase safety and that the governor will veto the bill once it reaches his desk.
'Now they're talking about at what level a person who has been drinking should rationally decide to go put away their loaded weapon,' Fonder said. 'This isn't going to make anyone safer.'
State Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, said the legislation's passage in both houses was a foregone conclusion and the governor will most likely veto the bill. He said the real question is whether or not Republicans in the Assembly can garner the votes needed for an override.
Although the Assembly passed the bill by a wide margin, it is unclear whether Republicans will able to acquire the 66 votes necessary to successfully override a veto.
One of the bill's authors, state Rep. Scott Gunderson, R-Waterford, said the amended SB 403 offers appropriate compromise and concedes to many issues Democrats opposed in the original legislation.
'We worked very hard to being people together,' Gunderson said. 'That's how we get things done. We need to communicate.'
Even though the bipartisan amendment passed and gathered critical votes from both sides of the aisle, many Democrat lawmakers still stand in staunch opposition.
'This bill is too extreme. It has too many problems,' Black said. 'Even if people support some version of conceal and carry, they don't want this one. It's too extreme.'
