To be honest, I don’t understand why the Wisconsin Legislature wants to override Gov. Jim Doyle’s veto of the “concealed carry” legislation.

Concealed carry is not one of those issues where a legislature is mandated to legislate, as was the Massachusetts Legislature when that state’s Supreme Court found civil unions constitutional.

Concealed carry does not lower our state deficit, does not fund education, and certainly won’t stop the massive manufacturing-job exodus from our state.

Plus, despite the faulty statements by a colleague of mine on this page, concealed-carry legislation is not favored by a majority of people in our state; not a version that mimics the dangerously libertarian “OK Corral” Vermont law, not even the Wisconsin version proposed, passed, and vetoed.

Some accuse Republican legislators of cowering under the shadow of the NRA. These accusers argue that usually even-headed politicians from around the state are afraid of becoming targets of the big-money gunslingers come next election cycle. But I can’t imagine the NRA would be able to target and fund opponents to every small-town Republican who says “no” to the override.

Somehow, whatever their motivation, our legislators find themselves on the cusp of violating three principles of law-making:

1. Don’t stump for property rights and then pass laws that surreptitiously violate that principle later. It’s already legal to posses a gun on your own property, so why grant legality to carrying your gun onto other people’s? This legislation diminishes the active sovereign status of owned property; instead of assuming that your land or store is a safe domain, small-business owners will now face a challenge of enforcement: how do I keep guns off my property? Further, if I owned a small store, and a criminal held me up at gunpoint, I would want to give him my cash and let him leave peacefully. With legal hidden weapons, however, I would fear that the other customer browsing down the aisle might consider himself a mini-Walker, Texas Ranger, blazing his ankle-holstered Glock when he heard the robbery.

Strangely, those in favor of the hidden-weapon law argue that some want to erode gun rights, but current gun-ownership laws in Wisconsin do not face serious challenge. A local handgun ban here in Madison failed referendum, and we’ve even constitutionally protected hunting and fishing, just for yuks.

2. When we enjoy a highly safe state, with decreasing crime rates, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. If, for some reason, crime rates rose, perhaps state legislators would think to increase funding to first responders like sheriff’s departments and police forces. If we think back to former Gov. Scott McCallum’s plan to suck money away from local governments under shared-revenue, however, we’ll remember that cops clearly aren’t priority No. 1 for “conservative” legislators. In the Republican metropolis of tomorrow, when a burglar breaks into my house and I call 911, I can imagine the recording: “Hello, thank you for calling your local government. Legislators have decided that we’re inefficient and that you can better serve yourself on your own. Please use your tax cut to buy a Desert Eagle and an automatic defibrillator. Have a safe day.”

There may be some upright citizens who can handle the responsibility of carrying a hidden weapon, but what frightens and disturbs me most about this legislation is that it punctures the idea that gathering in public is done with trust and good-faith. Hauling a hidden weapon around is inherently paranoid, and it violates the idea of an unspoken public pact. The net result of concealed carry will be, of course, more guns on the street. So when the Packers lose, or revelers get rowdy on State Street over Halloween weekend, our community police force will have to train themselves to become more guarded; there will soon be a higher possibility that the suspect is armed.

3. Never try to legislate away a real or perceived physical deficiency. If the cops oppose it, our crime rates remain low, and home gun ownership is not in jeopardy, then for what other reason does Wisconsin need this law? I suppose I now understand what shortcomings state legislators were trying to fix. (Note to Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dave Zien, R-Eau Claire: you can finally ditch this effort. I just checked my e-mail spam, and apparently there are lots of non-gun-related ways to remedy your defect.)

Josh Orton ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in political science and ILS.