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Wiped Clean, a MJS Watchdog Report details years of ATF violations by Badger Outdoor, as well as the persistent flow of guns from Badger to the streets of Milwaukee. Also of note is this followup report, Officials Want Details on Gun-Store Violations. It is time for Milwaukee to hold Badger Outdoor/Guns accountable for the steady supply of crime guns coming from their store.

A survey conducted by Frank Luntz shows that 86% of gun owners feel we can do more to stop criminals from getting guns while also protecting the rights of citizens to freely own them, 85% support a proposal requiring all gun sellers at gun shows to conduct criminal background checks, and 93% agree that irresponsible gun dealers who break the law by knowingly selling guns to unqualified purchasers should be held accountable to the maximum extent of the law. To see the full survey click here.

These results confirm what we found in Wisconsin, where 7 out of 10 NRA members support criminal background checks on all gun sales. A Washington Post article offers an interesting perspective on the survey results. And, in a comment following the Post’s article, Dr. Garen Wintemute reminds us of the significance of gun owners supporting important policy options like requiring background checks on all gun shows. Follow this link to see Dr. Wintemute’s recent study Inside Gun Shows: What goes on When Everybody Thinks Nobody’s Watching.

By JESSICA VanEGEREN | The Capital Times

Earlier this fall, while scanning the merchandise at a state gun show for an antique handgun, longtime gun enthusiast Guy Gorsky took notice of more than the array of potential investment pieces.

Based on the attire worn, questions asked and weapons eyed by a group of young men, Gorsky, who attends three or four gun shows a year, had a feeling they were gang members looking to make a quick purchase.

“They were only looking at automatic weapons,” says Gorsky, who keeps a variety of handguns and rifles in his Madison home. “I found that the most concerning.”

Unlike weapons purchased from a federally licensed firearms dealer, weapons bought at a gun show can often be whisked away the same day without a background check because not all sellers at gun shows are federally licensed. That’s the main reason behind Gorsky’s concern. Read More » »

Fall 2009 Newsletter

Many of the communities in our state have experienced firearm homicides in the past two years. It seems no matter where you live, gun violence is always nearby.

Learn more about WAVE’s work for statewide solutions – including criminal background checks on all gun sales in Wisconsin – and how you can get involved.

Click here to download WAVE’s Fall 2009 Newsletter

If we all work together, we can prevent domestic violence homicides in Wisconsin.

Please Call or Email Your Legislators Today

Ask them to co-sponsor SB 380 and SB 381.

Right now, there are laws on the books that are meant to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers. However, tragically, these laws are not–and in some cases cannot–be effectively enforced. This legislation creates procedures and legal authority so that the laws we already have to protect victims and prevent domestic violence homicides can be more easily enforced. (Click here for more information)

By Lisa Kaiser

Those armed protesters at anti-tax and health care reform rallies aren’t an anomaly, argues Joshua Horwitz, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. They’re part of a fringe element of the gun rights movement that supports armed rebellion against what they see as tyrannical government control. But Horwitz, author of Guns, Democracy and the Insurrectionist Idea, argues that this viewpoint is rooted in a flawed interpretation of the Second Amendment and the early years of this nation. Horwitz, who will speak at a Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort benefit on Oct. 22, spoke to the Shepherd about the insurrectionist idea and how it influences the current debate on gun control. Read More » »

By Joel McNally

Milwaukee officials united behind a major new effort to reduce the devastation caused by handguns in Wisconsin until, inexplicably, some of those same officials began negotiating against themselves.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Police Chief Ed Flynn and Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm put together an impressively coordinated campaign against handgun violence after tracing the last six shootings of Milwaukee police officers back to one gun store in West Milwaukee.

Even a few pro-gun Republicans in the state Legislature voiced possible support for stronger laws to keep guns out of the hands of convicted felons and penalize “straw buyers” who purchase guns that immediately fall into the hands of criminals.

Since politicians all over America are notorious for their cowardice about voting for strong laws to control slaughter in the streets from handguns, for a brief moment it appeared a rare opportunity had arrived to pass meaningful legislation. Armed with evidence that Badger Guns in West Milwaukee had sold one-third of the guns traced from Milwaukee crimes over the last four years, Barrett proposed a series of tougher state laws against illegal sale and possession of handguns. Read More » »

Our cherished freedoms don’t come from guns, but rather from open debate and free elections. Yet recently, the NRA has been saying, “The guys with the guns make the rules,” and gun-toting protesters have been showing up at political events. Is democracy under attack?

You’re invited to join WAVE
for a provocative and entertaining
Evening with Joshua Horwitz

Thursday, October 22, 2009
7:00-9:00 p.m. Refreshments Will Be Served
For more information contact WAVE at (414) 351-9283

Joshua Horwitz received a law degree from
George Washington University and is currently a
visiting scholar at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health. He is Executive Director
of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.

Investigators Document Repeat Illegal Sales at Gun Shows

David S. Fallis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 7, 2009; 6:14 PM

Undercover investigators working on behalf of the New York City mayor’s office repeatedly bought guns from unlicensed dealers at gun shows even though they disclosed they probably couldn’t pass a background check.
That finding is among those outlined in a 36-page report released Wednesday by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office that documents alleged illegal gun sales by private and licensed dealers earlier this year at seven gun shows in three states.
The investigation tested private, unlicensed dealers at the shows in Nevada, Ohio and Tennessee to see whether they would sell weapons to someone who said he or she probably could not pass a background check. It also tested licensed dealers at the same shows to see if they would sell to a gun to a person who was buying the weapon for someone else, or what is called a “straw purchase.” Combined, 74 percent of the sellers failed the integrity tests, the mayor’s office said.
The report, which was released on the Internet along with footage of the transactions, calls for background checks for all gun-show purchases and for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to better police the thousands of events held each year.
“This is an issue that has nothing to do with the Second Amendment; it’s about keeping guns from criminals, plain and simple,” Bloomberg said in a statement issued with the report. Read More » »