Scott McCallum
Question - are either/both of the previous carry bills acceptable? What changes would be required to get your support?
In my personal opinion,
NO!
First: Either one of the past bills would have made WI the MOST RESTRICTIVE shall-issue permitting system in the country, from that perspective alone they are unacceptable.
Second: Implementing a permitting system WILL BE
100s of new employees and $
$Millions$$ in new expenses. I want smaller government, not more government.
I don't want a 1,000 or even 100 page
health-care type carry bill that we (the ordinary person) won't be able to figure out and that we "need to pass to see what's in it."
A REPEAL has no fiscal impact, no
new employees, no
new department, no
new administration, and can bypass a bus load of committee hearings because of that.
A repeal could be on Walker's desk by May 2011, and we have CC the next day. A permit/privilege system won't be fully implemented until sometime in 2012.
Like Nik said, KEEP IT
SIMPLE. Let's REPEAL the CC ban first, and worry only about that. Once that's done, then we can take on Vehicle, Parks, GFSZ, and government buildings.
A "Castle Doctrine" should be a bill that happens later as well. Only "no-permit carry" was in the GOP plank, let's get it done!
NO ONE has given a valid reason why we need a permit, NO ONE. I've heard terms like "political reality," and "reciprocity." Well, here is the political reality,
"no-permit carry" IS IN the GOP plank. These same "political reality" people would have told you getting "no permit" in the plank was not possible either. It is time for the nay-sayers to stop with the "political reality" BS. The reality is, we did already did it! "no-permit" is in the plank and we CAN vote them out!
As to reciprocity, I honestly believe that if WI can go to "no-permit" CC, then MN, ND, SD, MT, UT, WY will all follow suit. With the exception of IL, we could see "no-permit" spread from WI all the way to TX! Those worrying about reciprocity need to worry about their own back yard first. Deal with WI, and then worry about the other states.
Nik is right, WI is decades behind the rest, but now is our chance to be a LEADER rather than a follower.
Now is the time for WI to take the lead, and
we CAN do it!
Lastly, I am seeing the word "hypocrite" used against those who are pro-permit. By definition, "a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings." Being pro-permit is NOT hypocrisy but being pro-permit and claiming to want smaller government is a contradiction.
We need to be like a laser, focused on a single point. If we are, then like a rifle, we can go a LONG way.
Carry On.