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Letters
The Wisconsin Lawyer publishes as many letters in each
issue as space permits. Please limit letters to 500 words; letters
may be edited for length and clarity. Letters should address
the issues, and not be a personal attack on others. Letters endorsing
political candidates cannot be accepted.
Please mail letters
to "Letters to the Editor," Wisconsin Lawyer,
P.O. Box 7158, Madison, WI 53707-7158, fax them to (608) 257-5502,
or email them.
Operation Ceasefire Should Focus Only on Criminals
I am pleased that Wisconsin has funded
"Operation Ceasefire,"
which focuses attention on "gut-toting criminals" as
reported in the March Wisconsin Lawyer. Although Sen. Brian Burke
calls the task force unique, and it probably is for Wisconsin,
the National Rifle Association of America has funded a similar
effort aimed at incarcerating criminals in Richmond, Va. The
Richmond project, known as Project Exile, has proven very successful
in reducing crime by taking violent criminals with guns off of
the street.
Sen. Burke's idea to
focus on criminals is a good one. Unfortunately, later in his
article he proceeds to lose his focus when he writes about his
proposed legislation (Senate
Bill 301) "to require that
all handgun sales be channeled through licensed dealers."
Instead of focusing on criminals, Senate Bill 301 would require
all handgun sales to be subject to federal record keeping, background
checks, and waiting periods. Law-abiding gun buyers don't
want the federal government keeping their names and personal
information stored in databases, as if they are somehow criminals
for wanting to exercise their constitutional right to own a gun.
And why should a citizen have to get his government's permission
to exercise a constitutional right, and wait several days to
do so?
I suggest Sen. Burke get back to focusing on criminals and
leave law-abiding citizens alone.
As far as Sen. Burke's comment about "zealous opposition"
to his bill "from gun advocates," I submit that we,
as lawyers, should all be in "zealous opposition" to
any bill that results in governmental red tape and interference
in a law-abiding citizen's exercise of a constitutional
right.
Wayne Anthony Ross
Chair, Alaska Chapter, Wisconsin Nonresident Lawyers Division
Director, former first vice president, NRA
It is good to know the readership of the Wisconsin
Lawyer extends all the way to Alaska. Had Mr. Ross read my
piece more carefully, he would have found ample credit given
to the Richmond experience. It is an impressive accomplishment
I hope we can match and surpass in Milwaukee.
His argument against ending the loophole shielding private
sales from background checks is less than convincing. Perhaps
people don't want to register their cars, boats, and dogs
with a government agency, not to mention marriages, births, or
deaths. Not wanting to does not outweigh the public interest.
Nor does compliance in any way criminalize, stigmatize, or infringe
upon a law-abiding citizen's right to own a car, boat, dog,
or gun.
Sen. Brian Burke
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