MADISON, WI (WTAQ) – Governor Scott Walker supports a bill to end Wisconsin’s 48-hour waiting period to buy handguns.
Senate Republican Van Wanggaard of Racine proposed the measure.
Walker, a potential GOP candidate for president, told the National Rifle Association’s news network it would make Wisconsin a national leader on the issue.
Wanggaard says the 48-hour waiting period dates back to an era when background checks had to be done by searching through card files. Now, he says computer databases can finish the same task in just hours.
An Assembly committee held a public hearing on the proposal last week.
The NRA and hunting groups supported it. Milwaukee and domestic violence advocates opposed it.
Assembly Democrat Fred Kessler of Milwaukee wanted an exception from the quick background checks for those arrested multiple times for domestic abuse.
A Senate hearing on the bill is set for a week from Wednesday.
Walker says it will help Wisconsin become a leader in freedom issues. In his NRA interview, he cited the state’s concealed weapons’ law — plus the “castle doctrine” law passed in the last session to protect homeowners from prosecution when shooting individuals perceived as threats.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)
