Niki Clarke of WisconsinCarry.org writes [via AmmoLand.com]
As reported by fox11.com, a school teacher discovered that a colleague — Jarrod Kuehn [above] — kept a gun in his car in the school parking lot. The teacher called the cops. Kuehn believed he was legally storing his gun unloaded and encased in his center console of his locked vehicle as per Wisconsin Law. The police and prosecutors disagreed. They charged Kuehn with a felony for having a gun on school grounds. This is yet another example of the travesty that is Wisconsin’s prohibition against carry on school grounds even in your personal vehicle. Wisconsin law requires . . .
that your gun be unloaded and encased when on School Grounds even in your own vehicle. Here is the statutory definition of encased: “(b) “Encased” means enclosed in a case that is completely zipped, snapped, buckled, tied or otherwise fastened with no part of the firearm exposed.”
Wisconsin Carry believes an unloaded gun secured in the center console meets the definition of “encased” because the latch on the center console meets the definition of “otherwise fastened with no part of the firearm exposed.” Apparently, the district attorney in Shawano County disagrees.
Now a law-abiding school teacher is suspended from his job facing felony charges with attorneys fees piling up.
Frequently after I discuss “school grounds carry” I have people tell me “as long as you are doing nothing wrong, the police would just give you a warning”. This situation should prove to us all that not only will you receive no leniency, no warning, no benefit-of-the-doubt, but the police and DA will use a definition of “encased” that the statute does not seem to support.
While I hope and pray this poor guy beats the charges in court, his reputation has been dragged through the media, his life is on hold, he is suspended from his job, he has attorney fees piling up… all because he tried to follow the letter of the law.
The “School Grounds Carry” bill (SB589) that Republican Senator Van Wanggaard of the 21st Senate District (Racine County) refused to move forward in the committee he chairs last session NEEDS to be given priority by Republican legislators who claim to support the 2nd Amendment and right to carry.
How many more law abiding citizens need to have their life ruined before Wisconsin’s legislators make the simple change to Wisconsin law to adopt the provision of the federal gun free school zone law that already allows CCL holders to carry on school grounds.
[Click here for a more detailed history on the effort WCI has undertaken over the past four trying to get school grounds carry passed.]
Nik Clark
Chairman/President – Wisconsin Carry, Inc.
nik@wisconsincarry.org
About Wisconsin Carry, Inc.:
Wisconsin Carry, Inc. is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the preservation and reclamation of the rights of law-abiding Wisconsin residents to carry in the manner of their choosing. We believe that “open carry” and “concealed carry” are choices to be made by law-abiding citizens based on their situation and preference. Wisconsin Carry, like many gun-rights organizations in Wisconsin, is investing a great deal of resources to get Wisconsin law changed to allow concealed carry this next legislative session by proposing Constitutional Carry. Wisconsin Carry, Inc. will continue to use legal recourse to deter unlawful treatment of law-abiding Wisconsin residents who currently exercise their right to open carry, and soon will exercise their right to concealed carry in Wisconsin. For more information, visit: www.WisconsinCarry.org.