Here & Now

GOP Right To Carry Bill Would Eliminate Background Checks

Frederica Freyberg:

In tonight’s closer look, Wisconsin could become the next state to allow people to carry concealed guns without a permit. A bill introduced by Republican lawmakers is being called “Right to Carry” and if passed would mean a person would no longer have to go through the process of applying for a state license which requires a background check and training. The legislation would also allow carrying guns in places like schools and police stations as long as they’re not posted against it. A violation of that posting order would result in a misdemeanor, not a felony. Wisconsin has issued more than 300,000 concealed carry permits since that law went into effect in 2011. Before that, it was already legal to openly carry a gun. Authors like to call their new bill “Right to Carry.”

Mary Felzkowski:

Let's talk about what state law is right now. State law right now says you can walk into a gun shop, you can purchase a gun, I can slap it on my hip and I can walk wherever it’s legal to carry. What I can’t do is put a sweater on. We’re taking that out and saying now you have the legal right to put that sweater on. We have a constitutional right to keep and bear arms. It doesn’t say you have a constitutional right to keep and bear arms if the government gives you permission to do so.

Frederica Freyberg:

Because under the proposed legislation, the state permitting process that requires a background check and training to carry a concealed weapon would go away.

Mary Felzkowski:

It's $40 for the permit. The classes can range from anywhere from $50 to $100. I mean this is just–I don’t want the right to defend yourself to be a financial burden, either.

Frederica Freyberg:

Opponents say they’re surprised by the bill.

Peter Barca:

When we passed concealed carry back about four, five years ago it was sold on the basis that you would have to have a permit. You would have to be trained and we would do a background check. So this flies in the face of those two major provisions. It would be permitless so you wouldn’t need training. But you also wouldn’t have a background check anymore, either.

Frederica Freyberg:

This gun shop and shooting range is owned by a local police officer.

Scott Whiting:

The problem with a firearm is there’s so much involved in it. It’s not just having a firearm. There’s the fundamentals of knowing how to efficiently use the firearm. Are you safe with a firearm? Do you know how to shoot the firearm? But more importantly do you have to know how to justify the use of force? You have to make sure that you know what deadly force is.

Frederica Freyberg:

Even now under the current concealed carry law there is no training requirement to actually handle a gun before getting a permit.

Brett Fankhauser:

Up with your right hand. Index finger going to go alongside the frame, not on the trigger.

Frederica Freyberg:

Basic mistakes stand out to expert trainers.

Scott Whiting:

Most people the first time they come in they handle a gun, you can just see it the way they handle it. Their finger is out on the trigger right away. The direction of their muzzle is poor.

Brett Fankhauser:

Okay, so fingers off the trigger. You’re good.

Scott Whiting:

As a person who’s a second amendment supporter, everybody should own or have a gun but I don’t think that you should be able to just carry just because you have the right to do it. I think there should be some requirement for training purposes.

Brett Fankhauser:

Press, press, press, bang.

Frederica Freyberg:

The National Rifle Association disagrees.

Amy Hunter:

The NRA really believes that training should be left up to the person and the individual. I mean people know that’s what they need. A lot of people in Wisconsin have grown up in a hunting tradition. They’ve had firearms as part of their lives since they were children and to have to jump through government hoops to have to pay fees, to sit in classes that are really unnecessary for them just to exercise a constitutional right, we think that should be left to the person.

Frederica Freyberg:

Wisconsin’s so-called “Right to Carry” legislation is based off what the NRA calls “Constitutional Carry.”

Peter Barca:

This bill goes even way beyond even “Constitutional Carry” in that there is a presumption now that you can carry guns on school grounds and schools and police stations and secure mental health facilities.

Frederica Freyberg:

Under the bill bans against carrying firearms in those places are eliminated but would allow locations to be posted as prohibiting guns.

Mary Felzkowski:

So what we did in this legislation is we took the state out of it. Where we repealed the state’s gun-free school zone law. The federal gun-free school zone law is still in effect and all school districts, all schools, municipalities, government entities, universities, mental healthcare facilities and private landowners still have the right to post their property.

Peter Barca:

It reduced the penalties for carrying a gun into these dangerous places and it would no longer be a felony if you are violating that law. It would only be a misdemeanor.

Frederica Freyberg:

We asked Governor Scott Walker this week if he supported the proposed legislation.

Scott Walker:

I did sign a right to carry. Concealed Carry is one of the most popular in the country and I think it works just fine the way it is right now. We’ve got a program where we’ve had one of the largest numbers of any state in terms of people signing up for Concealed Carry and I think it works fine the way it is right now.

Frederica Freyberg:

The bill has been referred to the Committee on State Affairs.