Senator Craig’s Statement on Chief Flynn’s Blame Game
"Chief Flynn is playing politics instead of fixing problems under his direct control"
Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn
Madison, WI — Today, State Senator David Craig (R-Town of Vernon) responded to the claims made by City of Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn blaming concealed carry weapon (CCW) license holders for the crime problem in Milwaukee.
Chief Flynn’s comments on the concealed carry law:
“It’s an irresponsible law passed by irresponsible legislatures [sic] who are more interested in ideological points and I’d sure as hell like some more community outrage about that because that’s what driving the violence in this city and too many public officials are silent on it.”
“I am forbidden to tell the public when a CCW permit holder breaks the law. I’m forbidden by statute.”
Senator Craig released the following statement in response:
“First, Chief Flynn’s claim that he cannot disclose when a CCW holder commits a crime is patently false. There is clear allowance in §175.60(12g)(b)(1) to disclose information in the context of a prosecution when the CCW license is relevant to the crime,” said Craig. “Of course, if the Chief continues his failed policies and the district attorney will not prosecute actual crimes committed, then it is hard to get accurate crime data to the public. It is also hard to fight crime.”
“It is clear to everyone in the City of Milwaukee and the surrounding areas that the liberal, soft-on-crime policies like ‘no-chase’ and easy plea deals are what really drive the crime problems in Milwaukee,” said Craig. “If City leaders fully utilized all the current laws and powers at their disposal, the City of Milwaukee would be in much better shape.”
“Chief Flynn is playing politics instead of fixing problems under his direct control,” said Craig. “Criminals are not concerned with any laws, much less concealed carry laws. To further restrict the popular, successful CCW law and prevent citizens from protecting themselves from the very crime Chief Flynn has allowed to flourish is wrong and irresponsible.”
“I am also renewing the call to move forward on Senator Leah Vukmir’s and Representative Joe Sanfelippo’s audit request of crime data in Milwaukee to bring further transparency. Legislative leadership should act on this audit get to the root of the problems driving crime in Milwaukee,” said Craig.
Senator Craig represents the 28th Senate District which includes parts of Waukesha, Milwaukee, Racine, and Walworth counties.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
Mentioned in This Press Release
Recent Press Releases by State Sen. David Craig
Statement on Extension of “Shelter-in-place” to May 26th
Apr 16th, 2020 by State Sen. David CraigSen. Craig: “Evers and Palm have gone too far! The Senate must reject Palm now!”
Senator Craig Statement on Governor Evers’ Shelter-in-place Order
Mar 23rd, 2020 by State Sen. David CraigMadison, WI — Today, State Senator David Craig (R-Town of Vernon) released the following statement relating to Governor Tony Evers’ Shelter-in-Place Order: “A decision of such magnitude like a ‘shelter-in-place’ order, regardless of what the government calls it, should only be established through the surety and specificity of an act of the legislature because of its extreme effects on Wisconsin families and businesses. Such action could stem the tide of confusion and anxiety being experienced by employers and employees all across the state. “Further, Governor Evers needs to articulate the specific information he received which caused contradiction between his Friday statement ‘I believe that we’ll be able to avoid [a shelter-in-place order]’ and today’s statement that he will make such an order effective tomorrow. “Additionally, last week I requested the Governor and Attorney General provide details as to how the government’s actions abide by the constitutional strict scrutiny that is required. Their continued silence on these issues is unacceptable given the precipitously negative impacts on civil rights and the economy. “Because of the Governor’s extreme step, I believe the legislature should consider the following protections for Wisconsin citizens: Require legislative approval of any statewide “shelter-in-place” order for reasons of pandemic or infectious disease Require legislative passive review of any “Emergency Declaration” after 30 days, with affirmative approval needed for a state of emergency lasting longer than 60 days Require a written report detailing the satisfaction of strict scrutiny concerns be given to the legislature prior to a ban of gatherings of 50 or fewer is to be in effect Require an immediate report to the legislature of arrests for mass gathering violations “The constitution was not designed to be disregarded in a time of crisis, in fact, it was specifically designed to be most valuable and applicable during times of crisis when liberties are most at risk.”
Sen. Craig and Rep. Sanfelippo Respond to Mayor Barrett’s Distorted View of Crime in Milwaukee
Jan 14th, 2020 by State Sen. David CraigCity of Milwaukee funds Streetcar instead of Police Officers
Here is the language that Craig is referencing. It is clearly aimed at preventing researchers from analyzing the effect of concealed carry. Flynn is correct and inadvertently tells us all we need to know about his (Craig’s) integrity.
Notwithstanding s. 19.35, neither a law enforcement agency nor any of its employees may make information regarding an individual that was obtained from the department under this subsection available to the public except in the context of a prosecution for an offense in which the person’s status as a licensee or holder of a certification card is relevant.
It’s so maddening that we have such terrible legislators in this state. Craig is far from the only Republican to believe this crap. Flynn isn’t perfect but there’s no reason whatsoever to believe that he is just out to score political points and isn’t all that concerned with public safety or gun violence in Milwaukee. And who knows more about this issue, Flynn or some legislator in the Town of Vernon?
Besides ignoring the clear connection between shootings, intentional and accidental, and the GOP drive to arm any and all people and allow concealed carry anywhere and everywhere, Sen Craig also believes the moon is made of green cheese, the earth is flat, and the tooth fairy is his friend. Craig is a danger to our safety, a person who believes in fantasy and myths, rather than the reality we face.
Bruce Thompson, how does Craig’s statement contradict the statute? If CCW is relevant to a prosecution (on the rare case when MKE even prosecutes someone for anything other than misdemeanor these days..) it can be made public. From what I recall, I have not heard more than a couple cases where a CCW holder was prosecuted for a gun crime.
Can we take a look at each person convicted in the last few years for any type of gun violence in MKE and see how many had a CCW? I’d imagine that would be allowable under the current laws.
Craig is absolutely right. CCarry has been studied to death, is law in 50 states and works well. Crime in Milwaukee has gone up cause of” catch and release” policies of Barrett.Chisholm. Flynn/Kremers.
There were more guns per capita in the 50’s then now and crime was nonexistent in Wis. Drugs are causing most of it. The semi legalization of Pot is pushing hundreds of thousands of our kids to the morgue cause the cartels from Mexico have switched to selling heroin/Pot laced with fenataynl and fentanyl.
So AG you agree with Craig and believe Flynn is playing politics and not being truthful?
Politifact would rate that entire WCD post Pants on Fire. Pot is not responsible for this.
Legalizing Marijuana Decreases Fatal Opiate Overdoses, Study Shows: http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/legalized-marijuana-could-help-curb-opioid-epidemic-study-finds-n739301
At this point, I don’t see how Flynn’s statement can be true when he and Barrett are so often telling us that perpetrators of gun crimes are so often repeat offenders. Either these offenders can not get CCW permits or we are too often seeing crimes being plead down to misdemeanors. In both cases, CCW isn’t the problem… either because the criminal doesn’t have one or because the issue is actually prosecuting crimes, not CCW permits. But I doubt it is even the second, because I’m sure we’d see headlines about CCW holders shooting someone when that is the case, as we’ve seen in a couple rare cases in the past few years.
The one area I’ll agree with Flynn is that people with multiple misdemeanors (perhaps depending on type of crime?) should not be issued CCW’s… but overall I think the subject is distracting from the real problems and is only a personal belief of Flynn that he is getting emotionally charged about.
Craig’s statement leaves out a lot of what Flynn actually said at that meeting AG (shocking I know). For example, “The audience was able to submit written questions for the panel. One asked Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn whether Wisconsin’s concealed carry law contributes to the violence. Flynn said it does, saying because only convicted felons are barred from permits, so-called “human holsters” with cleaner records hold guns for big-time drug dealers.” http://fox6now.com/2017/06/26/an-irresponsible-law-chief-flynn-says-concealed-carry-law-contributes-to-violence/
It’s ridiculous to assert that Flynn is playing politics and not speaking out out of an interest in public safety. He sees this every day. Craig in the Town of Vernon does not. Neither do you or I.
Also, it can be made public if it’s deemed relevant. That sort of language leaves a lot of leeway. Who decides if it’s relevant?
And that is one secretive law: “How absolute are Wisconsin’s rules shielding information regarding concealed carry license holders and applicants?
So absolute that DOJ officials are forbidden to reveal whether Wade Michael Page, who last August murdered six people at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek before taking his own life, was licensed to carry. Page’s prior convictions for impaired driving and criminal mischief, both misdemeanors, would not have disqualified him.”
http://wisconsinwatch.org/2013/03/state-weapons-law-conceals-information/
I saw a recording of a large part of the Q&A and saw Flynn’s response. It doesn’t change the statement that Craig made. And should a CCW holder give their gun to a felon/”big time drug dealer” to use in a crime, that’s a major crime in itself. From my interpretation, that would also fall under the relevancy of CCW to prosecution. Thus, we can see if that happens.
Flynn doesn’t see this stuff every day, his officers do. As we’ve discussed before, we both have friends that are Milwaukee police, what do your friends say about it? Mine say CCW is not a problem and strongly support it.
Regarding your last question, that’s valid and was kind my point in my first post. I’d imagine if Flynn really wanted to make that info public for CCW holders who get prosecuted or CCW holders who give their guns to someone who use it in a crime, he could. If it’s really an issue…
It absolutely changes Craig’s statement. He could always try talking to Flynn before resorting to smearing him and claiming he’s playing politics and not truly interested in public safety. That is a low-blow. You’d support the police on almost any other issue. Maybe you and Craig are the ones playing politics?
Of course Flynn sees this. That’s an odd comment to make. He does leave his office AG.
All Barrett/Chisholm/Flynn/Kremers do is play politics.They have proved that they cannot solve any problems; Heroin epidemic, human trafficking, bad roads, car jackings, burglaries, car theft, poverty, unemployment, corruption, high taxes, regulations, kids cannot read, MPS worst in country. Milwaukee county govt a joke.
Barrett spends money on Bucks and Trolley then whines he has no money for cops. Proritize. Kids lives over billionaires playthings.
Rest of state laughs at the leaders down here. More guns in Crandon Wis. All you clowns do is blame someone never solve problems. The first thing that the Chisholm clowns do is plead out try guns charges. The thugs all carry guns, this other theory is really dumb, but that is what liberals buy. State needs to take over Milwaukee, like Detroit mess and clean it up.
I don’t see where Craig says Flynn doesn’t care about public safety, can you point that out? What I see Craig saying is that Flynn, and the city leadership and prosecutors, have a lot of issues that are actually affecting crime that they should be focused on, not concealed carry which I’ve seen little/no evidence of causing crime to go up. His other point is that if CCW is a factor in gun crime, then it can be made public due to that very reason per the language Bruce cited above. Flynn is all about analytics, so let’s see the data.
“What I see Craig saying is that Flynn, and the city leadership and prosecutors, have a lot of issues that are actually affecting crime that they should be focused on”
Cause Flynn doesn’t know that? How exactly is Craig’s statement helpful? I agree, let’s get a better sense of how Flynn has come to his conclusions. Craig could/should have tried to start a dialogue and asked for more specific details/data. As far as I know there’s no reason to believe Flynn just makes stuff up for.
And come on AG. Read the statement again. It isn’t nuanced or reasonable. It is full of overheated rhetoric and cheap shots and name-calling.
I don’t really know Sen. Craig or follow his usual statements so I can only go on this one… I read it again, and I don’t see him using any rhetoric that is any more heated than Flynn’s, nor any name calling. I see him describing flynn’s policies as “liberal” and “soft on crime” and also says fighting CCW rights is wrong and irresponsible… but compared to a lot of rhetoric these days that seems pretty tame. Flynn himself calls politicians who support CCW irresponsible.
I’m not not seeing what you’re seeing I guess?
SSDD.
I dare say that those criticizing Chief Flynn have never walked the streets of Milwaukee. They are content to criticize from the safety of out-state homes. The CCW may work just fine in Vernon or Cranston. It is causing problems here in Milwaukee especially when cheap guns from Vernon and Crankston are being sold on the streets of Milwaukee in private untraceable sales. That is one of the big problems MPD faces here in Milwaukee. Guns coming from Ozaukee and Washington Counties regularly find there way into the hands of criminals in Milwaukee. There is also the problem of suicides, which have gone up substantially in this state and around the country since CCW laws have gone into affect. Have the decency to recognize that CCW is not the perfect legislation. As with anything, it has consequences. Please be civil enough to listen to those who are dealing with the consequences.
Mary Kay Wagner, as a resident of Milwaukee, do you think I purchased a star trek style transporter to get around? Believe it or not, there’s a lot of Milwaukee residents who support CCW. I’d love to see your backup for this Ozaukee/Washington county guns theory. All evidence I see is that they’re mostly stolen or purchase by straw buyers who never get prosecuted. You think these type of people care about CCW’s? And where do you connect CCW with suicide? You don’t need a CCW to shoot yourself.
WI’s ccw legislation is indeed not perfect… but the idea that CCW is a major force for driving crime in Milwaukee is absurd.
There has been some research into CCW and suicides. http://www.jhsph.edu/news/news-releases/2015/suicide-by-firearm-rates-shift-in-two-states-after-changes-in-state-gun-laws.html
Are they being stolen from and are the straw purchases happening in those counties?
“Are they being stolen from and are the straw purchases happening in those counties?” That’s a good question Vincent, I’m not really sure what she was trying to say so I can’t address it.
And unfortunately your link to those studies are about gun purchasing and licensing to purchase guns, not CCW. I’d imagine the easier it is to get your hands on a gun the easier it would be to shoot yourself with one… but I’m not sure how we can connect a license to conceal carry to deciding to shoot yourself.
I did search and find other stories about CCW and suicide rates. There have been some studies done. Of course coverage of said studies depends upon an outlet’s views on gun control.
A brand new study. Just found this. Published a couple weeks ago by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
“Right-to-carry (RTC) laws are associated with higher aggregate violent crime rates, and the size of the deleterious effects that are associated with the passage of RTC laws climbs over time.
Ten years after the adoption of RTC laws, violent crime is estimated to be 13-15% percent higher than it would have been without the RTC law.”
https://works.bepress.com/john_donohue/163/
That is another one of those BS anti gun Left wing nuts that the Left uses cause it sound official. Not backed up by any FBI study. More Hanna baloney.
That’s an ad hominem attack. This was published in a peer reviewed academic journal that conservatives are praising at this very moment because of its new study of the minimum wage in Seattle. You are just throwing out insults without thinking about them or doing any research. You are a lazy and ignorant idiot.
That’s an ad hominem attack. This was published in a peer reviewed academic journal that conservatives are praising at this very moment because of its new study of the minimum wage in Seattle. You are just throwing out insults without thinking about them or doing any research. You are lazy and ignorant.
Vincent, that’s an interesting meta-analysis for which there is a lot of good info to digest. Between that and the critical peer reviews, there’s a lot to go through so I can’t directly respond righ tnow. However, in skimming it, what I found interesting was that while they found mixed outcomes regarding RTC and tying in causality, the biggest shock (but not really) for me was that a far greater control for crime was incarceration rates and number of police officers per capita.
In other words, exactly what people keep crying out for: Lock people up for their crimes and hire more police and we will have a far greater impact on lowering crime.
Apologies for the double post. At first I got an error message and it appeared my comment didn’t post. I understand that there’s a lot to go through, which is partly what makes WCD’s post so foolish (par for the course sadly). It’s also interesting because it’s so new.
Peer reviewd, Lefties reviewing lefties who all hate guns. Bunch of crap not backed up by anything else except the Brady Bunch.
The person most obviously playing politics is Senator Craig. Flynn is the most accountable and most articulate Chief of Police we have had in this city in a long time. His observations deserve attention. Knee-jerk dismissals by reactionaries fueled by right wing talk radio need to be countered by voices of reason – such as those of Mary K and Vincent.
Thanks, Vincent, for the links to studies on the cc issue. I respect peer-reviewed studies. WCD clearly struggles with the concept of peer review.