HRC Applauds Governor’s Quick Action on Pro-Hunting Legislation
Governor Walker signed SB 228 and SB 75 into law.
November 4, 2011 MADISON – The Governor announced today that he will be signing two recently
passed pro-hunting bills – SB 228 and SB 75 – into law this afternoon.
The Gun Case Bill, SB 228, just passed through the Assembly yesterday. No longer will Wisconsin have
the most restrictive gun case law in the country. It is currently illegal to lay an uncased and unloaded
firearm on the trunk of your car as you tighten your boots.
“Thanks to the Governor’s quick action in signing this legislation, hunters will be able to exercise safer
handling of their firearms already in the 2011 deer season,” said Carl Schoettel, Vice President of the
Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association. “Wisconsin’s gun case law has been completely impractical and
has done nothing but penalize hunters for an irrelevant action, giving Wisconsin the reputation of being
unfriendly to hunters.”
SB 228 is very straightforward, allowing hunters to have uncased and unloaded guns, bows and
crossbows in or on their vehicle. Placing the firearm on or in the vehicle is often the safest and most
practical place. Hunters should not have to put their firearm in the snow as they get out their gun-case
every time they get back to their vehicle.
The other bill being signed today – SB 75 – from Senator Terry Moulton (R-Chippewa Falls) and
Representative Tom Tiffany (R-Hazelhurst), helps preserve the integrity of Wisconsin’s deer hunting
seasons by permanently ending Earn-a-Buck and making October T-Zone hunts into a rarity.
“We thank the Governor for recognizing that the intention of these programs was to help maintain our
deer herds and all we have to show for it is an increase in tagging violations thanks to inaccurate
registrations and population estimates” said SCI Central President Joe Koback.
The programs have been incredibly unpopular and the only measurable impact on hunting has been to
turn some hunters away from the sport. The Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) own statistics
show fewer hunters are hunting and less deer are being harvested while their own deer population
numbers continue to grow.
The Hunters Rights Coalition is Wisconsin’s only group 100% dedicated to advancing hunting
opportunities and protecting the rights of Wisconsin’s hunters. The Coalition is made up of several
groups including: The Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association, Wisconsin Chapters of
Tags: Hunting Legislation, SB 228, SB 75, Wisconsin Hunters Rights Coalition
