Wisconsin Democracy Campaign
Campaign Cash

NRA Wants Guns Without Permits

More than 40 GOP legislators back bill, received NRA donations.

By - Apr 2nd, 2017 06:01 pm
Cash. Photo by Moritz Wickendorf.

Cash. Photo by Moritz Wickendorf.

About 40 GOP legislators are backing a bill that would allow adults to carry concealed weapons without a permit or training in Wisconsin.

The bill eliminates the prohibition on carrying firearms into police stations, jails and prisons, and mental health facilities, unless those locations specifically post a prohibition on weapons on their buildings and grounds. The measure also allows people to carry tasers, and also eliminates the prohibition on carrying guns, bows and crossbows in wildlife refuges, and while operating all-terrain vehicles.

Currently, guns are prohibited on school grounds under federal law, unless the individual has a state concealed carry permit and the school does not post weapons prohibitions. This bill would maintain those provisions, but under a newly created basic permit, licensees would be able to carry weapons on unposted school grounds without training. Others who choose to carry concealed weapons without any permit would still not be able to have weapons on school grounds, whether posted or not.

As of late last year, there were about 320,000 people licensed to carry a concealed weapon since the state’s concealed carry law was passed in 2011 by the GOP-controlled legislature and approved by Republican Gov. Scott Walker.

The latest bill to carry weapons, including tasers, without a permit is backed by the National Rifle Association (NRA), the nation’s largest and most controversial pro-gun lobby. In addition to its influential state and federal lobbying activities, the NRA generally supports conservative and Republican candidates for state and federal offices with direct contributions and outside electioneering activities.

In Wisconsin, the NRA has spent about $3.6 million since January 2008 on outside electioneering activities to support GOP and conservative legislative and statewide candidates, including about $23,400 on the legislative elections last fall. Nearly all of the NRA’s electioneering spending, about $3.5 million, was to support Walker’s 2010 general, 2012 recall and 2014 general elections for governor.

In addition, the NRA contributed about $69,600 between January 2008 and December 2016 directly to all legislative and statewide candidates.

Nearly four dozen current GOP legislators have received nearly $75,900 in NRA campaign contributions, outside election support or both (see table below). Republicans control the Senate by 20-13 and the Assembly by 64-35.

Campaign Contributions and Outside Election Support by the NRA
to Current Legislators and Legislative Campaign Committees
2008 – 2016

Name Party Office* Direct
Contributions
Outside
Election Support
Total
Olsen, Luther R S14 $1,500 $10,772 $12,272
Harsdorf, Sheila R S10 $1,000 $6,231 $7,231
Tiffany, Tom R S12 $2,250 $4,437 $6,687
Cowles, Robert R S02 $0 $4,639 $4,639
Darling, Alberta R S08 $2,500 $2,035 $4,535
Kulp, Bob R A69 $0 $2,408 $2,408
Ripp, Keith R A42 $500 $1,768 $2,268
Moulton, Terry R S23 $500 $1,720 $2,220
Nerison, Lee A R A96 $500 $1,676 $2,176
Tranel, Travis R A49 $500 $1,216 $1,716
Marklein, Howard R S17 $1,000 $671 $1,671
Petrowski, Jerry R S29 $1,000 $638 $1,638
VanderMeer, Nancy Lynn R A70 $0 $1,629 $1,629
Krug, Scott S R A72 $500 $1,088 $1,588
Bernier, Kathy R A68 $500 $1,075 $1,575
Novak, Todd R A51 $500 $876 $1,376
LeMahieu, Devin R S09 $500 $666 $1,166
Roth, Roger R S19 $500 $650 $1,150
Lasee, Frank R S01 $500 $644 $1,144
Wanggaard, Van H R S21 $1,000 $127 $1,127
Kitchens, Joel C R A01 $500 $585 $1,085
Kleefisch, Joel R A38 $1,000 $0 $1,000
Republican Assembly Campaign Committee R A $1,000 $0 $1,000
Brooks, Ed R A50 $500 $497 $997
Petryk, Warren R A93 $500 $495 $995
Macco, John R A88 $500 $493 $993
Vos, Robin R A63 $500 $339 $839
Stroebel, Duey R S20 $500 $317 $817
Mursau, Jeffrey L R A36 $300 $486 $786
Steineke, Jim R A05 $750 $0 $750
Quinn, Romaine Robert R A75 $0 $717 $717
Horlacher, Cody R A33 $0 $526 $526
Edming, James R A87 $0 $501 $501
August, Tyler R A32 $500 $0 $500
Ballweg, Joan R A41 $500 $0 $500
Jacque, Andre R A02 $500 $0 $500
Spiros, John R A86 $500 $0 $500
Vinehout, Kathleen D S31 $500 $0 $500
Vukmir, Leah R S05 $500 $0 $500
Craig, Dave R A83 $0 $331 $331
Swearingen, Rob R A34 $300 $0 $300
Tauchen, Gary R A06 $300 $0 $300
Fitzgerald, Scott R S13 $0 $277 $277
Nygren, John R A89 $250 $0 $250
Born, Mark L R A39 $200 $0 $200

*“S” means Senate District and “A” means Assembly District

Categories: Campaign Cash, Politics

23 thoughts on “Campaign Cash: NRA Wants Guns Without Permits”

  1. Don McDougall says:

    You know this is not really the truth now is it.

  2. Ron says:

    Sad situation that so many Americans are ignorant of the statistics regarding guns and the harm they cause our society. Gun violence is usually isolated to small areas of cities. Most gun deaths are domestic violence, suicide and accidental shootings. White suburban boys are the ones who have killed their classmates at school. Why do so many people believe they are under violent threat and must carry weapons? Many civilized Nations ban hand guns, for example Canada and Australia. Hunting with a rifle is one thing, but there’s no need for an individual to own assault, semi and automatic weapons!. Want to shoot one? A rifle range can own and maintain them. How much money are people spending on weapons? Way too much! They are being manipulated by gun manufactures! Politicians are raking vast contributions to be elected and than are owned by the NRA and others.Why not work together to help people instead of creating lethal threats.

  3. Don says:

    83% of all shootings are gang and drug related, over 50% are tied to illegal aliens and gangs. The ACTUAL numbers are that most people are safe – Don’t join a gang or sell drugs.

    53% of all shooting are by black men under 30, that’s 3% of the population killing more than 1/2 of all gun deaths.

    The REAL issue is lack of jobs, poverty and failed inner city social system. ALL caused by the same anti-gun leftwing politicians. Chicago is the best (and saddest) example.

  4. Ron says:

    1/3 of all women killed are by domestic violence. 54% of them are killed by a gun! 62% of firearm deaths are suicides. There are 12,000 gun homicides per year. Good education benefits society. Yet, charter schools and voucher programs draft needed public school money away from inner city school systems. There is no system implemented in WI that measures Charter school learning outcomes. There is for public schools. The poor most often can not select betters schools for their children: no transportation and their work schedules. The system as implemented by WI is distorting education and throwing inner city children away into crime and helplessness!

  5. tom says:

    No reason to support the proliferation of firearms in our society other than these despicable politicians are paid off by the NRA. Hope these scum bag republican politicians enjoy all the shootings, killings, and violence in our cities. And don’t tell me guns have nothing to do with it because this does not happen in other countries. The USA is an extreme outlier when it comes to gun violence due to the ease of acquiring all kinds of firearms.

  6. Michael says:

    Who asked for this bill? It wasn’t the people who elected these muttonheads. NRA perhaps? Follow the money? Can’t see who else benefits by this other than gun manufacturers. .

  7. Penrod says:

    I am struck by the lack of interest by either the writer or the commenters in the experiences in the dozen or so states which have already eliminated a license requirement for concealed carry.

    Well, no, actually I’m not, because those experiences show that permit-free concealed carry doesn’t cause problems.

    If it did, those problems would be front page news.

    As far as the supposed incredible violence in the US: That’s a racist scam perpetrated and perpetuated by the anti-gun crowd, which very, very carefully declines to allow us to dwell on the US ranking in the world: At the world median in homicide rate. Specifically, the US intentional homicide rate ranks us number 108th out of 218. Our rate is 3.9 per 100,000. By comparison, using UN data: Puerto Rico: 18.5 per 100,000. Columbia: 27.9. Bahamas: 29.8. Jamaica: 36.1. Venezuela: 62.0 per 100,000.

    Racist anti-gun groups simply pretend that non-white countries’ murder rates don’t count, and also pretend that the US is a homogeneous white country, to boot. Apparently the anti-gun groups figure that non-white people just can’t be held to white people’s standard so they pretend they don’t exist. Voila: If we just pretend that 208 other countries don’t exist, the US is incredibly violent.

    Funny how non-white people’s lives don’t count when it is inconvenient for the preferred narrative.

    An easy to read table of UN data is available here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate Just clik on the “rate” column to order the countries by rate. If you prefer the official UN you should try here: https://data.unodc.org/

  8. Shirley says:

    Haven’t we learned anything since the days of the Old Wild West. I thank Tom (April 3, 2017 at 6:23) for his comments. He has certainly touched the very heart of the issue as I see it. I am stunned at the long list of “donations” given to the very people who should be against a “proliferation of firearms” in my state.

  9. sir publius says:

    The left did this, actually. They have pushed and pushed and pushed, and now people are pushing BACK for even more access than they had, knowing that so many people are out there constantly pushing the envelope against guns.

    At this point, LOTS of states have passed “constitutional carry” (permit-less carry), and no, its NOT all of a sudden the wild west and anarchy the left said it would be…surprise surprise.

    That’s of course because those people who really want to carry, and CAN’T by law, and STILL can’t by law for whatever reason, be they a felon or something else, they STILL can’t carry, and will carry or not, regardless of the law, and, the people who really wanted to carry before these laws went into effect are generally going to carry…but without the paid permit. Nothing much effectively ends up changing. It’s not hard to get a permit after all.

    https://mattsamerica.wordpress.com/2016/09/04/why-progressives-should-love-the-2nd-amendment/

  10. Penrod says:

    Hi Tom (#6) “this does not happen in other countries. The USA is an extreme outlier when it comes to gun violence due to the ease of acquiring all kinds of firearms.”

    Please see my post #8, because you have been scammed by those you trust who are promulgating the Big Lie. The US is not only not an extreme outlier, the UN data shows that the professional gun control people are lying through their teeth when they claim we are. If you want an extreme outlier, compare the US -3.9 intentional homicides per 100,000- with Venezuela: 62.0 per 100,000. How do we compare with them? Extreme? Only if non-white people’s lives aren’t worthy of counting.

    The US is absolutely at the median in the world. Those people telling you otherwise are professionals: It is their professional responsibility to know their facts. They DO know the facts, and they are cherry picking data in order to deceive people. They CHOOSE to pretend that 208 countries full of non-white people simply cannot be held to the behavioral standards of white people: There is no other excuse for eliminating them from the stats.

    You don’t have to be pro-gun to accept that: You are welcome to despise weapons of all kinds and the people who want them. THAT does not change the FACT that the US is solidly in the median. NOT an outlier of any kind. Look at the data as provided by the ultra-right wing nut cases at the UN.

    Then ask the gun control people why those non-white people shouldn’t count.

  11. Ron says:

    I’d like us to be number one in no homicides from guns! “That would be one contribution to “Make America Great Again”! How about adding to that and strive to have the “Best No. !” public education instead of #38 (Finland is No.1) and the No.1 “Wellness/Healthcare instead of No.16.

    Why not put your energy into improving the quality of life for all Americans instead of focusing on the destructive energy of “guns”? I do by contributing to organizations that help and teach inner city single and couple Moms and Dads how to parent including the value of reading, healthy meal preparation, conflict resolution etc. China and Mexico stealing your job???? Don’t buy products made in China or Mexico. You’re part of the problem be part of the solution: Buy American!

  12. Vincent Hanna says:

    Penrod where does your data come from? John Lott? You don’t actually provide any or share any evidence of any kind. And gun control groups are racist? You’re really going to make that WCD-ish claim? That is just so insanely stupid it begs people not to take anything you say seriously.

  13. Huck L. Berry says:

    Most gun deaths in Milwaukee are caused by democrats. Most gun deaths in Chicago are caused by democrats. Most gun deaths in Detroit are caused by democrats. Most gun deaths in Atlanta are caused by democrats. Most gun deaths in Miami are caused by democrats. Most gun deaths in Los Angeles are caused by democrats. Most gun deaths nationwide are caused by democrats.

    America doesn’t have a ‘gun violence’ problem — it has a problem with democrats unable to control their violent urges.

  14. Don McDougall says:

    If you remove Gang and Drug murders from the count the US has a murder rate lower than ICELAND!

    We don’t have a gun problem we have a gang and drug problem.

    By failing to address the causes of the violence all you do is repeat it, no about of gun control will stop the killings. Only getting tot he root causes of the problem. Failed schools and a democratic social system that needs an underclass to survive.

  15. Vincent Hanna says:

    Chicago notwithstanding, red states actually have a much higher violent crime rate than blue states.

  16. Vincent Hanna says:

    “The average violent crime rate (murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault) in 2008 for the 28 states that voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 Presidential election was 389 incidents per 100,000 residents. The average violent crime rate for the 22 states that voted for John McCain was 412 incidents per 100,000 residents – or a 5.8 percent higher incidence of violent crime.”

    http://editions.lib.umn.edu/smartpolitics/2009/09/16/red-states-have-higher-crime-r/

  17. Penrod says:

    Vincent Hanna “You don’t actually provide any or share any evidence of any kind. ” Mr Hanna: I take it you flunked reading comprehension.

    If you read my comment at #8, you should have no trouble finding my source, which I specified was the United Nations. I provided two links, one to the UN site and another to Wikipedia, which provides a somewhat easier to rank set of that data.

    In my comment #11 I told the reader i.e. YOU, Mr. Hannah, to refer to my comment #8, which, to reiterate for your help, refers to the data as from the United Nations and provides you two choices of sites at which to look at it for yourself.

    If for some reason you are unable to find my comment #8 (try looking between comments #7 and #9) here is the relevant portion for your viewing pleasure: “An easy to read table of UN data is available here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate Just clik on the “rate” column to order the countries by rate. If you prefer the official UN you should try here: https://data.unodc.org/

    “And gun control groups are racist?” What else would one conclude after seeing that gun-control groups simply pretend that 208 largely non-white countries must be treated as though they do not exist in order to raise the US rank of intentional homicides from #108 to #1? I call that deliberate disinformation, as in ‘propaganda’.

    In other words: If someone deletes 208 data points from a set of 218 in order to pretend that #108 is actually #1, I call them dishonest, deceitful, and in this case, racist for dismissing so many mostly non-white countries.

  18. Vincent Hanna says:

    It’s Hanna, not Hannah. What was that about reading comprehension? You struggle with words that contain more than four letters?

    Americans are 10 times more likely to be killed by guns than people in other developed countries, a new study finds. From The American Journal of Medicine. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-u-s-gun-deaths-compare-to-other-countries/

    http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/12/07/458815891/the-u-s-is-a-world-leader-in-gun-deaths

    https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/14/upshot/compare-these-gun-death-rates-the-us-is-in-a-different-world.html

    Any way you look at it, gun violence is an extremely serious problem here. There is no good way to spin it. Now you can go back to Wikipedia.

  19. AG says:

    “The measure also allows people to carry tasers, and also eliminates the prohibition on carrying guns, bows and crossbows in wildlife refuges, and while operating all-terrain vehicles.”

    I think this can make sense. But bundling it with removal of CCW permit holders to get trained and permitted… not a fan at all.

  20. Don says:

    Lol…no one has said no training for ccw holders. That’s there just to scare the lefties.

  21. Vincent Hanna says:

    Hey Donnie: “they could carry the weapons under a newly created permit that does not require any firearm training”

    http://fox6now.com/2017/03/28/wisconsin-bill-would-allow-hidden-weapons-without-license/

  22. Penrod says:

    Alaska, Arizona, Vermont, and Wyoming have been permit free long enough to provide rivers of blood rushing through the streets. So far that hasn’t happened.

    Other states which have recently legalized permitless carry should be seeing tidal waves of blood. So far that seems not to have happened either.

    Alaska went permit free in 2003.
    Arizona: 2010
    Idaho (residents only) 2016
    Kansas: 2015
    Maine: 2015
    Mississippi: 2015
    Missouri: 2017
    New Hampshire: 2017
    North Dakota (residents only): 2017
    Vermont: Always
    West Virginia: 2016
    Wyoming (residents only): 2011

    Source, footnoted: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_carry

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