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    Wisconsin Lawyer
    May 01, 2000

    Wisconsin Lawyer May 2000: Letters to the Editor

    Letters

    The Wisconsin Lawyer publishes as many letters in each issue as space permits. Please limit letters to 500 words; letters may be edited for length and clarity. Letters should address the issues, and not be a personal attack on others. Letters endorsing political candidates cannot be accepted. Please mail letters to "Letters to the Editor," Wisconsin Lawyer, P.O. Box 7158, Madison, WI 53707-7158, fax them to (608) 257-5502, or email them.

    Operation Ceasefire Should Focus Only on Criminals

    Gun I am pleased that Wisconsin has funded "Operation Ceasefire," which focuses attention on "gut-toting criminals" as reported in the March Wisconsin Lawyer. Although Sen. Brian Burke calls the task force unique, and it probably is for Wisconsin, the National Rifle Association of America has funded a similar effort aimed at incarcerating criminals in Richmond, Va. The Richmond project, known as Project Exile, has proven very successful in reducing crime by taking violent criminals with guns off of the street.

    Sen. Burke's idea to focus on criminals is a good one. Unfortunately, later in his article he proceeds to lose his focus when he writes about his proposed legislation (Senate Bill 301) "to require that all handgun sales be channeled through licensed dealers."

    Instead of focusing on criminals, Senate Bill 301 would require all handgun sales to be subject to federal record keeping, background checks, and waiting periods. Law-abiding gun buyers don't want the federal government keeping their names and personal information stored in databases, as if they are somehow criminals for wanting to exercise their constitutional right to own a gun. And why should a citizen have to get his government's permission to exercise a constitutional right, and wait several days to do so?

    I suggest Sen. Burke get back to focusing on criminals and leave law-abiding citizens alone.

    As far as Sen. Burke's comment about "zealous opposition" to his bill "from gun advocates," I submit that we, as lawyers, should all be in "zealous opposition" to any bill that results in governmental red tape and interference in a law-abiding citizen's exercise of a constitutional right.

    Wayne Anthony Ross
    Chair, Alaska Chapter, Wisconsin Nonresident Lawyers Division
    Director, former first vice president, NRA

    It is good to know the readership of the Wisconsin Lawyer extends all the way to Alaska. Had Mr. Ross read my piece more carefully, he would have found ample credit given to the Richmond experience. It is an impressive accomplishment I hope we can match and surpass in Milwaukee.

    His argument against ending the loophole shielding private sales from background checks is less than convincing. Perhaps people don't want to register their cars, boats, and dogs with a government agency, not to mention marriages, births, or deaths. Not wanting to does not outweigh the public interest. Nor does compliance in any way criminalize, stigmatize, or infringe upon a law-abiding citizen's right to own a car, boat, dog, or gun.

    Sen. Brian Burke


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