nwv_082005_WI_and_its_lack_of_self

Recently, a 21-year-old female college student in Madison, Wisconsin was murdered. Reportedly, when she called 911 to report the imminent attack, the operator hung up on her. Madison Police Chief Noble Wray had this to say about the incident:

Dane County Public Safety Communications Director Joseph Norwick said “he was investigating the incident and reviewing whether policies should be changed and employees should be disciplined.” Norwick also stated: “I don’t think there’s anything to apologize for at this time.”[2]

Perhaps Mr. Norwick doesn’t feel apologetic because he knows that government agencies were under no obligation to provide protection to this particular victim? The most recent proof of this was from a Supreme Court case in 2005, when the Court heard a case where Jessica Gonzales had obtained a restraining order against her estranged husband. Nevertheless, he kidnapped her three children and murdered them.[3] The Supreme Court concluded that a restraining order “imposed no duty on police” to protect her children.[4] This was the latest in a series of higher court rulings on the subject, all of which reached the same conclusion.

Wisconsin’s Bias Against Self-Defense

When Wisconsin Governor Doyle vetoed the second recent legislative attempt to pass shall issue, right-to-carry (RTC) in Wisconsin, he stated:

These statements highlight the belief that firearms only add to violence, and that women and children in particular are the most at risk as a result.

What the Numbers Show

During the 1995-1996 time period, 10 states enacted RTC. Through 2006, these states averaged a 23.0% drop in their violent crime rates: decreases of 31.0% in murder, 12.6% in rape, 23.2% in robbery, and a 23.8% drop in aggravated assault. During this same time period, Wisconsin experienced an increase in overall violent crime of 1.0%: 30.2% drop in murder, 12.4% in rape, 4.7% less robbery, and 8.2% more aggravated assault. Wisconsin trailed in all indices compared to the RTC states, especially in robbery (by 18.5%) and aggravated assault (by 32.0%).

While it is difficult to draw too extensive a conclusion from these data, it is nevertheless reasonable to conclude that concealed carry has not contributed to violence in RTC states, and that promoting anti-self-defense laws in Wisconsin has not enhanced public safety. It is also reasonable to avoid jumping to a “guilty until proven innocent” conclusion about new self-defense laws, counter to what was done by organizations claiming to have the best interest of families, women and children at heart.

On the one hand, the governor and “the overwhelming majority of law enforcement throughout Wisconsin” want to limit what you may do to protect yourself from violent criminals in public; on the other hand, Wisconsin bureaucrats accept no responsibility for picking up the slack between what they allow you to do and what the criminal––who doesn’t care about laws––is willing to do.

Write your legislative representatives and ask them: The Supreme Court ruled that the police are not obligated to protect me. Calling 911 is no guarantee that police will respond. What would you have me do to protect myself and my loved ones?


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WISCONSIN AND ITS LACK OF SELF-DEFENSE