Kaul Says Wisconsin Needs ‘Holistic’ Approach to Mass Shootings
Attorney Generals calls for a discussion of a range of 'evidence-based solutions.'
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul speaks at a press conference advocating for stricter gun laws Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
Monday’s shooting at Madison’s Abundant Life Christian School is the latest in a list of hundreds of shootings that have unfolded at U.S. high schools since the Columbine massacre in 1999.
It’s prompted calls across Wisconsin for action, as politicians and community members say the tragedy cannot be allowed to repeat itself.
In a year-end interview with WPR, four days after the Abundant Life shooting left three people dead, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said there are proven ways to reduce gun violence. But he stopped short of identifying a single legislative or policy fix that could have prevented the Abundant Life shooting, specifically.
“We need to look at this issue holistically,” he said. “There are steps that are evidence-based solutions to reduce the likelihood of targeted violence and mass shootings, but there’s no one step that is going to prevent every shooting from happening. So I think it’s important that we bring people together without suggesting there’s any one solution.”
Kaul says he continues to urge state lawmakers to adopt gun regulations, including universal background checks and a 48-hour waiting period for buying a firearm. Wisconsin lawmakers have repeatedly introduced bills that would exempt gun safes, trigger locks and barrel locks from state sales tax, and Kaul said he supports legislation that would “increase accessibility” for safe gun storage.
Kaul acknowledged, however, that tighter gun regulations face an uphill battle in Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled Legislature.
“There has not been a legislative hearing on these topics in years,” Kaul said. “And so the first step is to have some discussion and debate about these issues and to bring people together to try to find solutions.”
Kaul also credited programs run through his department’s Office of School Safety for helping to prevent violence at schools. Abundant Life, a private school with more than 400 students, has been a recipient of Office of School Safety grants and a school official has said those resources helped Abundant Life “harden” its security before the shooting took place.
Kaul said the office provides resources to help stop school violence before it happens, including operating a threat tipline and providing behavioral threat assessment training to help “identify people who may be threats for targeted violence.”
Kaul’s next budget request for Wisconsin’s Department of Justice asks the governor and Legislature to approve $2.3 million over two years to continue operations at the school safety office.
Former Republican Gov. Scott Walker signed a law creating Wisconsin’s Office of School Safety in 2018 after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida. The office has since expanded its operations, though it faced the possibility of cutbacks over the last budget cycle. Last year, lawmakers agreed to a compromise, which involved using concealed carry fees to help fund the office on a temporary basis.
In a recent interviews with Wisconsin media outlets, Republican Assembly Speaker Robing Vos expressed support for the school safety office, and he indicated that he may back granting the DOJ’s full school safety funding request in the coming budget season. Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, that chamber’s top Republican, also indicated a willingness to support the DOJ’s request.
A Madison police investigation into the Abundant Life shooting is still ongoing. And investigators have not yet disclosed how the 15-year-old shooter obtained two handguns before using one of those guns to kill two other people and then herself.
It’s illegal for someone under 18 to possess a firearm in Wisconsin, with certain exceptions like using it for target practice with adult supervision.
There’s also a Wisconsin law that sets criminal penalties for leaving a loaded gun within “easy access” of a child who’s younger than 14. Kaul did not say, in response to a question from WPR, whether he supports changing that child access law.
Kaul, who is 43, has been floated by pundits as a potential Democratic contender for governor in 2026.
During Thursday’s interview with WPR, Kaul declined to say whether he plans to for governor. He also declined to say whether he’ll seek another term as attorney general.
“My focus right now is on the work that we’re doing at DOJ the rest of this year, and in 2025,” Kaul said.
Gov. Tony Evers, a 73-year-old Democrat first elected to the position in 2018, has not said whether he plans to run again.
Kaul says Wisconsin needs ‘holistic’ approach to preventing mass shootings was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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