Althouse: "It's not that we're against raccoons and skunks."

June 3, 2011

"It's not that we're against raccoons and skunks."

"We'll go through the proper channels now."

Just another gun rights issue here in Wisconsin.

There's also: "Walker says concealed carry bill should require training, permits."

31 comments:

Phil 314 said...: License to kill gophers; 6/3/11, 4:18 PM
edutcher said...: When do the skunks have to be read their rights?; 6/3/11, 4:23 PM
Triangle Man said...: Raccoons are out of season. Skunks are fair game.; 6/3/11, 4:24 PM
The Dude said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/3/11, 4:26 PM
chickelit said...: Pepe LaPew is never in season, but it's always wabbit season around here.; 6/3/11, 4:26 PM
chickelit said...: *Elmer Fudd voice*:
Where is that mad awaskan?; 6/3/11, 4:27 PM
Triangle Man said...: Is concealed carry illegal in the PR of W?

Concealed carry is currently illegal in WI, but there is a bill to permit concealed carry without a permit.; 6/3/11, 4:28 PM
Triangle Man said...: Breaking news, UW-Madison will not become a public authority, but will gain important "flexibilities".; 6/3/11, 4:30 PM
Fred4Pres said...: First of all you use an air rifle, which is quiet, usually completely legal in a semi urban golf course setting, and get the job done.; 6/3/11, 4:42 PM
MadisonMan said...: Giving guns to young men to shoot things. What could possibly go wrong?; 6/3/11, 4:43 PM
Triangle Man said...: Giving guns to young men to shoot things. What could possibly go wrong?

Aside from not having a case for the rifle, and possibly hunting raccoon out of season, it does not seem that they were doing anything illegal.; 6/3/11, 4:50 PM
Calypso Facto said...: "Giving guns to young men to shoot things. What could possibly go wrong?"

Much less, cruise missiles.

Glad to see the House asserting SOME pretense of Constitutional authority.; 6/3/11, 4:52 PM
Fred4Pres said...: Is there a season for raccoons and skunks in Wisconsin? Most states allow you to shoot them year round, especially when it due to them committing damage. You may need a license and you have to comply with safety rules on shooting near structures.; 6/3/11, 5:12 PM
traditionalguy said...: If I remember right, shooting coons is racist.; 6/3/11, 5:13 PM
T J Sawyer said...: Many of Sen. Bob Jauch's constituents in Northwest Wisconsin have what is known as "meat and potato" gardens. The deer might get in, but they don't get out.

Glad to see the golfers are catching on.; 6/3/11, 5:20 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: I thought that just about every state that allowed concealed carry required training and a permit to do so.; 6/3/11, 5:30 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: I thought that just about every state that allowed concealed carry required training and a permit to do so.

If they don't, they should. Guns can be dangerous if you have not had the training and the proper respect for the weapon.; 6/3/11, 5:44 PM
Fred4Pres said...: It is not that we're against Jews...

OT, but WTF? This guy is really serious. You really can't make this stuff up.; 6/3/11, 5:45 PM
Fred4Pres said...: Freeman, a lot of states do not. The good ones.; 6/3/11, 5:46 PM
Sofa King said...: I thought that just about every state that allowed concealed carry required training and a permit to do so.

Most do, but a few do not, such as Vermont.

It hasn't seemed to be much of an issue either way.; 6/3/11, 5:46 PM
rhhardin said...: I am reliably informed that nothing wakes you up faster than having three Dobermans sleeping on your bed and a raccoon knocking over a garbage can outside.; 6/3/11, 7:12 PM
Paul Brinkley said...: @DBQ:
"If [states] don't [require training and a permit to carry concealed], they should. Guns can be dangerous if you have not had the training and the proper respect for the weapon."

I agree with your last statement, but be careful with the first. One concern with requiring training is that the state can run it like a literacy test.

So far, that does not seem to have happened, and training is definitely wise, so the law has stood.

The thing to watch out for is if someone commits a crime with a firearm, had a permit to carry, and evidence suggests the person could have used more stringent training. Then someone will make the case for a program that is ruinously hard to complete (such as requiring certification from some understaffed state board).; 6/3/11, 7:31 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: One concern with requiring training is that the state can run it like a literacy test.

Good point!

Whenever the government gets involved the rules and regulations become complicated, restrictive of our freedoms and prohibitive.

Yet.....My concern as a gun owner is that the people around ME also have had some safety training and ability to handle their weapons with safety and common sense, without injuring other people (ME!!!) as well as themselves.; 6/3/11, 8:26 PM
AlanKH said...: That wasn't a promo for Over the Hedge II?; 6/4/11, 1:46 AM
Kirk Parker said...: Freeman,

Most, sure. But there are some stellar places (such as, oh, I don't know, Washington State maybe) where they don't presume to condition one's rights on training. And then there's hippie Vermont where nobody needs a permit at all to carry.

DBQ,

No way no way no way. See the above paragraph--and guess what? We (and VT) don't have a higher rate of problems then places that do have training requirements, so why give the government that power?; 6/4/11, 4:29 AM
Humperdink said...: Help me here ... how does one conceal carry a rifle? Most states do not require a permit to carry rifle in your car. I presume they were not using pistols in their endeavor. That would require an expertise not found in most shooters.; 6/4/11, 7:09 AM
MadisonMan said...: Most states do not require a permit to carry rifle in your car.

The young men in the story were cited for having an uncased firearm in the car. (Sounds like a phonybaloney type of law to me)

Not sure if those were rifles, I suspect not, because why would WI require hunters to case their rifles?; 6/4/11, 7:38 AM
A "Shotgun" Gold said...: "Giving guns to young men to shoot things. What could possibly go wrong?"

Wow! They're GIVING guns to people now? It's about time! Where do I sign up?! How young do I have to be? What about those of us who are middle-aged?

Four states currently require no permit to carry a concealed weapon: Vermont, Wyoming, Arizona and Alaska. A number of other states require a permit, but no particular training to obtain the permit, e.g., Georgia and Pennsylvania. Some have a minimal training requirement, e.g., Florida, which will accept a hunter's safety course certificate as proof of adequate training.; 6/4/11, 11:35 AM
A "Shotgun" Gold said...: "The young men in the story were cited for having an uncased firearm in the car. (Sounds like a phonybaloney type of law to me)"

It may be a stupid law, but it is a real statute: Chapter 167.31

And the definition of "vehicle" is very broad and inclusive of just about anything you'll move about in or on.; 6/4/11, 11:40 AM
Robert R. said...: "Not sure if those were rifles, I suspect not, because why would WI require hunters to case their rifles?"

To prevent on road hunting / poaching and general safety.

In general, it's a violation to fire your gun from a roadway, in or out of vehicle. Wisconsin hunting regulations mandate a hunter get out of his vehicle, unless disabled, and hunt in the fields and forests. It's a fairly traditionalist approach to what constitutes hunting.; 6/4/11, 4:34 PM
Scott said...: DBQ 12 states have no training requirement to their permits, 4 states have no permit requirement, statistically there is no difference between accidental shootings and or bad shoots in those 16 states and say one like NY which has a very restrictive permitting system which mandates training.
Regarding local or state governments using permits as a way to deny civil rights one needs only to look at the states that had purchase permits or "safety inspections" for handguns to see that yes gun control laws have been used to deny minorities. Almost all of those states required people to apply in person so the sheriff could get a look at you. Michigan's permit system was changed after Dr. Ossian Sweet was able to resist against a racist mob. It was changed so the gun boards could make sure an applicant was the right color and class. Clayton Cramer's book Racist Roots of Gun Control was used in both the Heller and McDonald amicus briefs and also quoted by Justice Thomas in his dissent in McDonald.
As far as Republican law makers go I don't understand why they are going against the WI Republican Party platform which supports Constitutional carry and has for the last couple years. I also don't understand why they stayed silent if they objected to the plank at the recent WI Repub conference in Wisconsin Dells.; 6/4/11, 5:09 PM