Wisconsin Moves To Nix 48-Hour “Cooling Off” Period For Gun Purchases

By Robert Farago. Republished with permission from TheTruthAboutGuns.com

“Ten states and the District of Columbia impose some form of waiting period for buying handguns,”startribune.com reports. “Wisconsin’s 48-hour period has been in effect since 1976, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.” And soon it will be history. The Republican-led Assembly has just passed a bill killing the Badger State’s “cooling off” period for handgun purchases. It heads to presidential hopeful Governor Scott Walker who has declared his intention to sign it into law. In case you need a little blood pressure hike, here’s the House Democrats’ reasoning on why the measure will lead to blood in the streets . . .

Minority Democrats railed against the bill, warning it would enable people caught up in fits of rage or depression to obtain weapons quickly and kill people . . .

The bill still left Democrats shaking their heads. Democrats from Milwaukee, which has seen 67 homicides so far this year, said the waiting period is the only piece of state gun laws that work.

“It’s just going to result in more violence in our urban communities,” Rep. Fred Kessler, D-Milwaukee, a former judge, said.

Sure. Go with that. Meanwhile, the Eat Cheese or Die state is working on rolling back other gun control measures.

The Senate passed a bill that would allow off-duty, retired officers to carry guns at schools. The bill’s chief Senate sponsor, Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, said the measure would create another line of defense for students and teachers if a shooter attacks them. Opponents said allowing non-uniformed officers to carry guns at schools could scare students and could allow non-officers to carry concealed weapons without school administrators being able to interfere. They also said officers who are mentally unstable could create deadly situations in schools.

The Senate passed the measure 22-11. The Assembly approved it shortly after on a voice vote with no debate. The bill now goes to Walker. Asked whether the governor would sign it, Patrick said only that Walker would evaluate the proposal.

The Assembly also passed two bills expanding the state’s concealed carry law. One measure would allow active-duty soldiers stationed for at least a year in Wisconsin to obtain a state concealed carry license. The other would enable former police officers who worked out-of-state but now reside here to apply for a federal concealed carry license if they obtain annual training through the Wisconsin Department of Justice, sparing them a trip back to their former state to obtain the training.

Both proposals now head to the Senate.

Walker’s appeal to gun rights advocates continues to increase.