Gov. Jim Doyle delivered on his promised veto Friday following the passage of concealed carry legislation, officially rejecting Senate Bill 403.
SB 403 passed the state Assembly in late December and the state Senate last week with an attached bi-partisan amendment creating more regulations on gun licensing.
The amendment lowers the blood alcohol level from .08 to .02, increases the gun-free school zone by an additional 100 feet, makes registering with false information on gun permit forms a felony instead of a misdemeanor offense and requires for mandatory re-licensing programs every five years.
'I am very proud to stand with the overwhelming majority of law enforcement throughout Wisconsin who oppose this legislation,' Doyle said in his veto statement. 'This bill would allow loaded, hidden guns at shopping malls, concerts, banks, playgrounds and even school zones, putting our kids and communities at risk.'
Doyle said SB 403 does not help Wisconsin on issues that are more pertinent and pressing to its citizens.
'The bill does not create a single job, help a single Wisconsin citizen afford health care or improve schools for a single Wisconsin child,' Doyle said. 'The legislature should spend more time trying to get jobs into our communities instead of more guns.'
SB 403 will now go back to both houses, and a two-thirds majority vote will be needed in both the state Assembly and state Senate to overturn Doyle's veto.
A two-thirds override vote will most likely pass in the Senate, but the fate of SB 403 in the Assembly is still unclear, state lawmakers say.
