A Change in the Wisconsin Wind

Two states, and two only, deny their citizens the right to carry concealed weapons: Wisconsin and Illinois. The District of Columbia, of course, also bans concealed carry, but despite the best efforts of many Democrats, DC is not a state, at least not yet. However, it seems that change is in the Wisconsin wind.

With the recent election of a Republican governor and Republican majorities in both houses of the Wisconsin legislature, it seems a foregone conclusion that concealed carry will become law this year. Gun ownership has always been high in Wisconsin, and two attempts to pass concealed carry in recent years were vetoed by Democrat Governor Jim Doyle, but now Republican Scott Walker is in the governor’s mansion and has expressed his support for such measures.

In a recent Lacrosse Tribune story picked up by Reuters (available here), the anti-gun position was prominently represented. According to Jeri Bonavia, executive director of “Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort,” “We really don’t believe that more people carrying guns in public is beneficial in any way. In fact, we think it’s harmful.” Reporter John Rondy commented, “A college dropout opened fire on a crowd gathering for an event by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Arizona on January 8, killing six people and wounding 13, including Giffords. The shooting has raised questions about permissive U.S. guns laws.”

For anti-gun “activists,” any occasion raises questions about “permissive U.S. Guns laws.” Changes in the weather, cattle stampedes, the existence of Sarah Palin, Glen Beck, Sean Hannity, George W. Bush, any criticism of Barack Obama or his policies, hangnails, bad breath, any occasion at all. Gun banners see the need for more gun bans in the ocean, clouds, the stars, the smile of a child, reflected in a lover’s eyes, perhaps even as a cure for global warming, which guns, like virtually everything else in the known universe, surely cause.

Illinois is, until decades of Democrat corruption and mismanagement cause it to become completely bankrupt and lead to its inevitable collapse, hopeless. It will likely remain, for some time, one of the last anti-gun bastions in the nation. But Wisconsin may, in the near future, rejoin the constitutional republic that Ben Franklin helped to establish and feared we might lose. The ultimate verdict on that matter remains out, but with this small light of hope in Wisconsin, there is renewed reason for hope and perhaps early congratulations to the people of Wisconsin who have taken the first steps to taking back their government.