Wisconsinites, please contact your representatives immediately on this issue if you have an opinion: it has a shortened deadline of Monday, March 22nd. This is the first round in the expected "trade-offs" the Milwaukee politicians want for allowing concealed carry to pass this year. In my opinion, it is not worth the trade. Please also note, this will ban those who have committed a "violent misdemeanor" from possessing a firearm.
From: Rep.Staskunas
Sent: Monday, March 15, 2010 3:47 PM
To: *Legislative Assembly Democrats; *Legislative Assembly Republicans; *Legislative Assembly - Independents; *Legislative Senate Democrats; *Legislative Senate Republicans
Subject: Short Deadline - Cosponsor LRB-2912 & LRB-4543 - an Act to Close the Gun Show Loophole and require background checks on all firearm transfers
To: Legislative Colleagues
From: Rep. Tony Staskunas
Sen. Spencer Coggs
Date: March 15, 2010
Re: Co-sponsorship of LRB-2912/5 and LRB-4543/1, an Act to Close the Gun Show Loophole and require background checks on all firearm transfers
SHORT DEADLINE - 5pm on Monday, March 22, 2010
Gun violence is arguably the most significant threat to the safety of urban residents in the United States of America. According to a nationwide poll conducted by conservative political consultant and Fox News commentator Frank Luntz, 69% of National Rifle Association members and 85% of non-NRA gun-owners support “requiring all gun sellers at gun shows to conduct criminal background checks of the people buying guns.” The Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort (WAVE) Educational Fund commissioned a similar statewide poll that found 84% of likely voters agreed with the statement that “anyone who buys a gun should be required to have a background check done by a licensed gun dealer to make sure they have no criminal record.” The same poll also found that 82% of likely voters in Wisconsin support prohibiting “people convicted of certain violent or serious misdemeanor crimes from purchasing a gun for a period of five years” and “require that a copy of gun sale information be maintained by the Wisconsin Department of Justice so that law enforcement has access to the information to trace guns used in crime.” Please find copies of these polls attached.
In October 2009, the City of New York released a report detailing the findings of an undercover investigation of firearms sales at gun shows. 63% of private sellers sold firearms to individuals who told the seller that they could not pass a background check. 94% of licensed dealers at gun shows sold firearms to apparent straw buyers. These sales by private and licensed dealers were in violation of federal law. A copy of the NYC report is attached.
To address this problem, we are introducing LRB-2912 and LRB-4543. This proposal has the following provisions:
· Require that all firearm transfers in Wisconsin be made through federally licensed firearms dealers with the following exceptions:
· Transfers for which the waiting period for the purchase of a handgun under current law does not apply,
1 Transfers to family members, and
2 Transfers intended to be temporary and not otherwise prohibited by law.
· Require firearms dealers to send the serial number or other identifying information related to the firearm to the Department of Justice. If a firearm is later recovered at a crime scene, law enforcement will be able to determine where the firearm was last legally transferred in Wisconsin and then work with the firearms dealer to track down the last person to legally receive the firearm.
1 Prohibit persons who have been convicted of a “violent nonfelony offense” from possessing a firearm until five years have passed from the date of conviction.
· “Violent nonfelony offense” is defined in the bill as:
· Misdemeanor convictions for battery, battery to an unborn child, sexual assault, intimidation of witnesses, intimidation of victims, endangering safety by use of a dangerous weapon, carrying handgun where alcohol beverages may be sold and consumed, criminal gang member solicitation and contact, victim or co-actor contact, harassment, exposing genitals or pubic area, leaving or storing a loaded firearm within the reach or easy access of a child, and possession of other dangerous weapons,
1 A violation of a temporary restraining order or injunction, and
2 Any misdemeanor crime for which the maximum term of imprisonment has been increased because of the use of a dangerous weapon.
Your office may have recently received postcards from constituents that were delivered by the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort (WAVE). Those postcards were written in support of this legislation.
The supporters of requiring a criminal background check on all firearm transfers include the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association, Wisconsin County Police Association, Wisconsin Medical Society, Wisconsin League of Women Voters, WAVE Educational Fund, Wisconsin Council of Churches, Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Wisconsin Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians. A full list of the supporters of this proposal is attached.
If you would like to cosponsor LRB-2912/5 and LRB-4543/1, please contact Rep. Staskunas’s office at 6-0620 or Sen. Coggs’ office at 6-2500 by 5:00pm on Monday, March 22nd. The analysis of the Legislation Reference Bureau and the text of the bill are attached below.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Current law provides that various conditions, including a background check of a prospective purchaser, must be met before a federally licensed firearms dealer may transfer a handgun after a sale. This bill prohibits the sale or transfer of any firearm unless one of the following applies: the sale or transfer is by a federally licensed firearms dealer; the sale or transfer is to or through a firearms dealer; the sale or transfer is one for which the waiting period for the purchase of a handgun under current law does not apply; the transfer is by gift, bequest, or inheritance to a family member; or the transfer is intended to be temporary and the purpose of the transfer is not illegal. In addition, this bill requires that, before any firearm that is not a handgun is transferred, the person receiving the firearm must provide identification to the firearms dealer and the firearms dealer must complete a notification form listing his or her name, his or her contact information, and information to identify the firearm and convey the information on the form to the Department of Justice.
Current law prohibits a person from possessing a firearm if he or she has been convicted of a felony. This bill prohibits a person from possessing a firearm also if he or she has been convicted of a “violent nonfelony offense” unless five years have passed since the conviction. A violent nonfelony offense includes misdemeanor battery, misdemeanor harassment, misdemeanor endangering safety by use of a dangerous weapon, and exposing genitals to a child; violations of a domestic abuse, child abuse, or harassment temporary restraining order or injunction; and misdemeanors for which the maximum term of imprisonment has been increased for use of a dangerous weapon when committing the misdemeanor.
Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime, the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a report concerning the proposed penalty and the costs or savings that are likely to result if the bill is enacted.
For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.
