Wisconsin Democrats To Introduce Gun Bills

Several Democratic state lawmakers say they’ll introduce bills that would ban assault rifles and so-called “maximum damage” bullets in Wisconsin to prevent shootings like the one in Newtown, Connecticut. But Gov. Scott Walker says the state should focus on improving Wisconsin’s mental health system.

The semi-automatic rifle carried by the shooter in the Newtown tragedy used 30-round magazines. They held bullets designed to fragment inside a body once they strike tissue, inflicting more damage than a bullet that travels straight through.

Milwaukee Assembly Democrat Fred Kessler called that one of the tragedies of the Newtown shooting, “These kids had no chance. I mean once the bullet disintegrates in your body, you know, I thought ‘Oh god, the opportunity to go to the hospital and be saved disappeared. And I think that, to me, would be a pretty easy issue that we could deal with.”

In addition to banning those bullets, Kessler and other Milwaukee Democrats would also ban assault rifles. They would also require concealed carry applicants to undergo a psychological evaluation.

Speaking to reporters in La Crosse, Gov. Scott Walker said previous shootings had shown there was a huge breakdown in the mental health systems in many states. He called for improvements there but brushed off talk of banning assault weapons, “I’m not going to get into the federal government, the President and members of Congress will talk about that. I think what we want to talk about here in Wisconsin is trying to figure out a comprehensive way—whether it’s mental illness, whether it’s looking at school safety–all those sorts of things are things that need to be looked at. I think there’s no one silver bullet, but there’s going to be a variety of things that we have to look at.”

Walker said the state should also better track people on restraining orders for domestic violence–a response to the spa shooting earlier this year in Brookfield.