A Wisconsin Public Radio report by Gil Halsted interviewed Jeri Bonavia on Friday, June 6, 2008:

A Wisconsin gun control group is reacting to Attorney General J. B. Van Hollen’s decision Wednesday to issue a concealed weapons permit to a retired state justice department employee. A spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Anti - Violence Effort says such permits don’t improve public safety.

Attorney General Van Hollen says he issued the permit to former white collar crime investigator Tom Steingraeber because federal law allows retired law enforcement officers to carry concealed weapons. Van Hollen says he believes it’s good public safety policy to have trained gun users on the street. He says if they’re are trained to use a firearm and are willing to carry one, it makes sense to give them another tool so they can protect the public if the occasion arises. Van Hollen is also lobbying for a state law that will encourage all local law enforcement agencies in the state to grant such permits to retired officers.

But Jeri Bonavia of the Wisconsin Anti -Violence Effort says Van Hollen’s theory that guns are useful tools in promoting public safety is based on a false premise that more guns equals less crime. She says there is research that shows that society and individuals are not safer with more guns out on the street.

Bonavia says she does support the restrictions in the federal law that require retired officers to take a firearms training course each year and refrain from drinking while they are carrying their weapons, but she’s still very skeptical about the public benefit concealed carry advocates claim the law promotes.

Posted on Monday, June 9th, 2008 at 2:46 pm and filed under Policy, Press, Concealed Weapons, Media.