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WGO Project Open Carry

| July 13, 2010 | 7 Comments

The number of gun owners across Wisconsin exercising their right to carry guns openly for self-defense is reaching critical mass.

Today Wisconsin Gun Owners, Inc. — Wisconsin’s only no-compromise gun rights organization — unveiled PROJECT:OPEN CARRY. The campaign is a three-phase operation to remove restrictions on — and prevent law enforcement harrasment of — gun owners who carry openly in Wisconsin. And hold accountable anti-gun cops and businesses who harass gun owners.

1. Phase I: Education & Media

Click here to listen to the WGO Open Carry Radio Ad. If you support the message, please donate here to buy more airtime across Wisconsin!

With groups like opencarry.org launching programs such as Operation Carryland, WGO said today all pro-gun organizations in the state need to be unified behind the pro-open carry cause.

“WGO salutes the members and staff at opencarry.org, who deserve the thanks of all gun owners in Wisconsin for creating the momentum on open carry we now enjoy,” said Corey Graff, Executive Director of Wisconsin Gun Owners, Inc. “But there remains much work to do as gun owners are still being harassed and having to contend with school zones and contradictory vehicle-related statutes. PROJECT:OPEN CARRY will lend unified firepower to this cause.”

To create and run radio spots in key markets throughout Wisconsin, gun owners can make a donation to this campaign HERE.

Listen to the Open Carry Ad »

The radio ads will inform listeners about the legality of open carry, and that when they see someone with a gun on their hip, to “smile and wave,” because these gun owners “might just save your life.”

Donate to this Campaign Now » (Choose “Special Projects”)

2. Phase II – Legislative Action

Sign the Online Petition to Repeal “Criminal Safe Zones” in school zones throughout Wisconsin and vehicle transportation statutes related to firearms that make traveling with guns legally virtually impossible.

The WGO Open Carry Petition Demands:

1. Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in US v. Lopez that school zone gun prohibition is unconstitutional, Wisconsin should strike these gun bans from the books.

2. Gun owners should not be required to disarm while in a vehicle. WGO calls for repeal of the myriad contradictory and confusing laws that turn vehicles into criminal safe zones.

3. Repealing the ban on carrying concealed weapons, by way of both voluntary “Shall-Issue” permit-to-carry system and a “Vermont-Style” concealed carry provision. The former would allow Wisconsin citizens to travel to other states which enjoy concealed carry reciprocity. The latter would strike the ban on Carrying Concealed Weapons (CCW) from the books yet would not require citizens to get a permit if they choose to exercise their right to bear [concealed] arms. This concealed carry system mirrors the Alaskan model.

Sign the Online Petition »

3. Phase III – Holding Anti-Gun Police Officers and Anti-Gun Businesses Accountable

Stories are pouring in from all corners of Wisconsin about gun owners breaking no laws while carrying guns, but being harassed (contacted, sometimes detained, even arrested) while openly carrying in public places and private businesses.

Since the memo issued by Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen clarifying the legality of open carry in Wisconsin, there is no excuse for law enforcement ignorance on this issue.

PROJECT:OPEN CARRY

QUICK LINKS

1. Listen to the Open Carry Radio Ad »

2. Donate to Media Campaign »

3. Sign the Online Petition »

4. Report Cops and Businesses Who Harass Gun Owners »

Pressure — polite yet firm — needs to be brought to bear on peace officers and agencies who usurp their authority.

WGO’s message: Carrying a gun on one’s hip no more gives cops reasonable suspicion that one is a felon or engaged in a crime than driving a car gives reasonable suspicion that one is drunk driving or has run over pedestrians.

Absence “articulable facts” that some other crime is taking place, there is no legally justifiable reason for police to make contact with citizens on the mere presence of openly-carryied guns.

This will re-enforce the American principle of “innocent until proven guilty.”

That’s not all: businesses (such a Pick N’ Save) who are currently drafting anti-open carry or anti-firearm policies need to be exposed to the communities in which they do business as anti-gun.

WGO’s PROJECT:OPEN CARRY will implement procedures for holding these businesses accountable. We will send the message: Anti-gun businesses who ask open carry supporters to leave will lose gun owner business.

In a state with more than 864,000 gun deer licenses sold in 2008, no business can afford — especially during this tight economy — to lose the support of gun owners.

E-mail Your Reports »

Please make a donation to PROJECT:OPEN CARRY »

And be sure to send in video or photos of you openly carrying in Wisconsin.

NOT ONLY IS CARRYING A GUN OPENLY IN WISCONSIN SOMETHING YOU CAN DO … IT’S SOMETHING YOU SHOULD DO.

Category: Featured, News & Alerts

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Comments (7)

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  1. Alex Johnson says:

    Concealed Carry is next.

  2. Matthew Lundy says:

    We need to keep our carry rights and get concealed Carry

  3. Janet Wilson says:

    I support open carry and concealed carry.

  4. Paul says:

    I also do as well

  5. YVONNE HOTKIEWICZ says:

    YES RIGHT CANT SMOKE IN A BAR BUT DRUNKS ARE GOING TO BE ABLE TO CARRY A GUN..DAH!!! THAT’S JUST ASKING FOR MURDERS..THINK ABOUT IT…

  6. robert jacobson says:

    if all of you dooms-day people would read the statistics, you would find that a miniscule percentage of CC permit holders have ever been charged with a firearms offense while carrying. All of the negativeism is just a bunch of liberal hog wash.

  7. Jeff C. Lauck says:

    What are all the requirements of the new WI cc?

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