FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Corey Graff, Executive Director

888.202.1645

February 3, 2004

Wisconsin Gun Owners, Inc. (WGO) — Wisconsin’s only no compromise gun rights organization — announced that today’s vote signifies much more than a push for self-defense advocacy by gun owners.    WGO said that gun rights proponents statewide believe — correctly — that "packing heat" is a right guaranteed and enumerated in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights.   

"We’re making sure concealed carry is the issue state politicians will be answering to in coming elections," said Corey Graff, Executive Director of Wisconsin Gun Owners, Inc. "But whether the Governor’s veto is overridden today or not, the concealed carry battle in Wisconsin is long from over."   

Graff said the right to bear arms was "trampled on" in 1871 when Wisconsin outlawed the carrying of concealed weapons in the state.   

But the organization says there are problems within the Personal Protection Act (PPA) that, if passed into law, would be subject to intense lobbying by their members. "The authors of the bill, Senator Dave Zien and Representative Scott Gunderson, have shown a willingness to compromise," Graff said. "Gun owners who wish to carry by permit will be forced to register their names in a computerized database with the state Department of Justice.   

"That’s called ‘gun registration’ no matter how the NRA rationalizes it. So the institutional gun lobbies are simply swapping one form of gun control for another."   

Even so, WGO plans to "clean it up to respect gun owners’ privacy." The group will then push for a better form of concealed carry while other pro-gun organizations such as the NRA remain content with the carry-by-permit system the bill would create.   

"Our next goal is to pass a Vermont-style carry system in this state," said Graff. "Which is a true application of the Second Amendment."    Alaska passed a similar law last year, under which no permit, fee, training or background check is required to carry.

"Laws prohibiting concealed carry render good people defenseless, leaving us incapable of defending ourselves and our families," said Graff. "When the state outlaws your ability to keep your family safe, all people — whether gun owners or not — have a duty to step in and get involved.

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