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GMissionTo restore and defend the rightto keep and bear arms throughon-target strategy, and to holdaccountable all those whosurrender that rightthrough compromise.un ownerA Publication of Wisconsin Gun Owners, Inc.SB 44 passed the State Senate.Will Rep. Gunderson make SarahBrady’s dream come true by passingit in the Wisconsin Assembly?Continued Page 2— AB643, Introduced in theWisconsin legislature.See story page 4Inside NICS Expansion Advances WI-Level Lautenberg Ban Pratt: Oppose WI’s AB70 State Handgun Ban (AB643) Firearm Freedom ActVol. VI No.1Gunderson StillPushing Brady CheckExpansion BillMadison, Wis. — The State Senate haspassed Senate Bill 44, which would expandthe state-run background checks conductedon gun buyers from the State Departmentof Justice to the federal National InstantCheck System (NICS).“.all firearm transferswould have to be reportedand all guns registeredinto a centralized databasewithout establishingwho has access to thedatabase.”Spring 2010Warm weather means open carry!Visit wisconsingunowners.org tolisten to WGO’s open carry radio ad,coming soon to a radio station nearyou.Private Handgun Sales Ban Introduced p.4

Page 2WI NICS ExpansionContinued from Page 1Championingthismassiveexpansion of gun control inWisconsin are State Senator AlbertaDarling and State The Senate unanimously passeda bill Tuesday mandating mentalhealth information be includedin background checks for firearmpurchases in Wisconsin,” a reportin the Badger Herald said. “Thebill would bring Wisconsin intocompliance with current federal lawconcerning handgun sales, as wellas put Wisconsin in the company ofmany other states that have workedto monitor mental health historiesand gun purchases in the wake of theVirginia Tech massacre in 2007.”Buster Bachhuber, spokespersonfor the Wisconsin chapter of theNational Rifle Association, hit thenail on the head when he noted that,“There are a lot of things that couldbe done to make campuses safer,to keep dangerous people fromrunning around with guns, but thiswas done more out of fear than outof any sound public policy basis,”according to the Herald story.The Wisconsin Gun OwnerSpring 2010how SB 44 and AB 70 — if passedHow About Campus Concealed by the state assembly and signedby Wisconsin Governor Jim DoyleCarry?Gun owners should wonder why — will become the perfect stormGunderson and Darling are reacting against gun ownership in the Badgerto mass public shootings with State.legislation designed to strap lawfulgun owners with more restrictions, What’s So Dangerous AboutWGO asked. “These are just more Expanding NICS?excuses for bureaucrats to deny gunowners the right to buy guns withoutAs pointed out in previous alerts,government permission slips.”Assembly Bill 70 and Senate BillGun owners surveyed consistently 44 would dangerously expand statewant a clean concealed carry bill level back ground checks to includeintroduced, not more restrictions far-reaching medical data.and centralization of power (whichThe federal version of this gunwill only be ignored by criminals). control scheme, HR2640, was“Whose side is Gunderson on?” passed into law by what most gunasked Corey Graff, executive owners considered a betrayal ofdirector of Wisconsin Gun Owners, trust by congressional republicansInc. (WGO). “When we survey and the NRA.gun owners across Wisconsin,Gun Owners of America (GOA),their reaction to the Gunderson- the National Association for GunDarling gun control bill is contempt Rights (NAGR) and Wisconsin Gunand outrage. They are righteously Owners, Inc. (WGO) (along with anindignant. Republicans should not be army of rock-solid state-level gungroveling at the feet of Washington rights organizations from across theDC gun control groups. They should country) steadfastly opposed thebe repealing this federal database, mental health bills on the basis thatnot expanding it.”they would subject gun owners andWith President Obama’s recently- their rights to arbitrary “diagnosis”passed health care “reform” bill by psychiatrists.turning America officially into aContinued Page 3socialist state, it remains to be seen— wisconsingunowners.org —

Spring 2010The Wisconsin Gun OwnerPage 3WI NICS ExpansionContinued from Page 2The analysis by the LegislativeReference Bureau provides thesechilling insights into AB70: “Thissubstitute amendment requires DOJ,when conducting a backgroundcheck on a prospective handgunpurchaser, to check whether a courthas ordered the person not to possessa firearm due to a determination thatthe person’s mental health wouldrender the person ineligible underfederal law to possess a firearm.”Sarah Brady and State Rep. Scott Gunderson (R-Waterford)Mental Health Definitions: A both seem to be working toward the same goal: to expandMoving TargetBrady background check gun control.Since 1952, the American PsychiatryAssociation (APA) has utilized theDiagnostic and Statistical Manualof Mental Disorders (DSM) as itsstandard for defining, diagnosingand treating mental health disorders.Since its first printing, the manual hasundergone five revisions, the mostrecent being the DSM-IV, whichwas finalized in 1994. Currently afifth version is being prepared andis due out by 2012.Each new version contradicts theprevious version; new authors withnew perspectives and agendas writeeach new release. The standardkeeps changing, shifting, sometimesradically — the result is that mentalillness is never clearly or objectivelydefined. It is a moving target shapedby political and social pressures.“Following controversy andprotests from gay activists at APAannual conferences from 1970 to1973, the seventh printing of theDSM-II, in 1974, no longer listedhomosexuality as a category ofdisorder. After talks led by thepsychiatrist Robert Spitzer, whohad been involved in the DSM-IIdevelopment committee, a vote bythe APA trustees in 1973, confirmedby the wider APA membershipin 1974, replaced the diagnosiswith a milder category of “sexualorientation disturbance,” one reportsaid.In today’s politically correctclimate, the most recent version ofthe DSM-IV contains “no referenceto homosexuality.”Which DSM was correct or wereboth wrong? One can easily seethe danger this contradiction raisesif these diagnoses were synced upwith a gun owner database that actsas an automated judge, jury andexecutioner for the gun buyer. Suchvariance also calls into questionthe credibility of those who definemental illness. Psychiatrists can’teven agree amongst themselvesover a relatively short period of timeon how to precisely define mentalillness on any given issue. Thirtyyears ago no one heard the term“attention deficit disorder” or “posttraumatic stress disorder” — todaydiagnoses for these new mental— wisconsingunowners.org —illnesses are commonplace.If NICS is expanded, expect entiregroups of Wisconsinites to be deniedtheir right to purchase a firearm.Legislation like this paints with abroad brush and will disarm manygood people who should be able tobuy handguns. One such group isveterans.On one side of the spectrum:someone could be diagnosed todayas “mentally defective” who wouldlater be undiagnosed tomorrowbased on which way the political orsocietal winds blow. In terms of thepsychiatric standards themselves,which DSM was right? Before thepolitically correct movement gainedsteamed or after — and which DSMwill the NICS system rely upon —the one that may disarm you, or theother that may not?Contact State Rep. Scott Gundersonat 608-266-3363 or by e-mail atRep.Gunderson@legis.wisconsin.gov. Tell Gunderson to repeal NICS,not expand it.

Page 4The Wisconsin Gun OwnerSpring 2010Late Bill Would Ban Most Private Gun Sales in WisconsinCertain misdemeanor convictions could bar gun ownership under AB643 By Richard MooreRichard MooreA fast-tracked bill introduced in thestate Legislature at the end of Marchwould ban the private sale of mostfirearms in Wisconsin and would forthe first time extend a prohibition onthe possession of firearms to thoseconvicted of certain misdemeanors.StateSen.SpencerCoggs(D-Milwaukee) and Rep. TonyStaskunas (D-West Allis) are theprincipal authors of the legislation,which received public hearings in boththe Senate and Assembly this pastweek.The bill would essentially requireall firearm transfers to be conductedthrough a federally licensed firearmsdealer, except transfers to familymembers, law enforcement and militaryagencies.Specifically, according to an analysisby the Legislative Reference Bureau,the legislation prohibits the sale ortransfer of any firearm unless one offive conditions applies. That is, thesale or transfer must be by a federallylicensed firearms dealer or the saleor transfer is to or through a firearmsdealer, or the transfer is by gift, bequest,or inheritance to a family member, oris intended to be temporary and thepurpose of the transfer is not illegal.Finally, a sale or transfer may be madeif a waiting period does not apply, suchas for the transfer of firearms classifiedas antiques, or transfers betweenfirearms dealers or between wholesalersand dealers, or transfers of any firearmto law enforcement or armed servicesagencies.Under the proposed statute, familymember means a spouse, parent,grandparent,sibling,child,orgrandchild. The relationship may be byblood, marriage, or adoption.In addition, while current law prohibitsa person from possessing a firearm if heor she has been convicted of a felony,this bill would prohibit a person frompossessing a firearm if he or she hasbeen convicted of a “violent nonfelonyoffense” unless five years have passedsince the conviction.Such offenses include misdemeanorbattery, misdemeanor harassment,misdemeanor endangering safety byuse of a dangerous weapon, exposinggenitals to a child, violations ofa domestic abuse, child abuse, orharassment temporary restrainingorder or injunction, and misdemeanorsfor which the maximum term ofimprisonment has been increasedfor use of a dangerous weapon whencommitting the misdemeanor.Way Out ThereThe National Rifle Association says theproposed legislation is an infringementof the Second Amendment rights ofWisconsin citizens.“These proposals contain outrageouslyhostile language which would putunconstitutional restrictions on firearmtransactions and transfers at gunshows,” the NRA stated on its website.“Gun control advocates refer to this— wisconsingunowners.org —legislation as a fix for the ‘gun showloophole,’ the scare tactic created byNew York Mayor Michael Bloombergto push his anti-gun agenda. (As)in most cases with state legislationand Bloomberg’s federal legislationregarding closing this ‘loophole,’ thebill goes way beyond that and providesmany unconstitutional restrictions onlaw abiding citizens.”“Including information toidentify all firearms, and notjust handguns, would createa registration databasesimilar to Canada’s long gunregistry.”The problem for Wisconsin is thatBloomberg has found a sympatheticear with Milwaukee’s mayor and someMilwaukee legislators who have beenmisled by his false statements andrhetoric, the NRA stated.The NRA said the proposals do morethan close a gun-show loophole.“These proposals go way beyond gunshows though, and frankly attack manypersonal freedoms,” the NRA stated.“These proposals would require that allfirearm transfers be conducted througha federally licensed dealer, except tofamily members. That means if youwanted to sell your firearm to a friend,you would have to find a federallylicensed dealer and pay whatevertransfer fees they felt appropriate.”Continued Next Page