Evers may call special session on guns
GREEN BAY - Gov. Tony Evers said Wednesday he might call lawmakers into session to take up legislation aimed at keeping firearms out of the hands of people who could use them to kill masses of people.
Republican lawmakers who control the Legislature have signaled they wouldn’t support any new legislation that puts more restrictions on who can buy or possess guns but Evers could call a special legislative session asking them to do so even if lawmakers ignored him.
“There’s a possibility of that,” Evers told reporters at an event in Green Bay. “I’d sure like to have some good feeling that and assurances that we’re actually going to accomplish something.”
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, a Republican from Juneau, said Tuesday he thought Wisconsin laws already covered the kind of protections typically created by a red flag law, which allows family members and law enforcement to petition a judge to order firearms be surrendered by anyone deemed a threat to themselves or others.
He also said he doesn’t support expanding background checks because of Republican opposition to such a move, which is rooted in a fear that the policy would create a registry of guns.
Evers said Wednesday he would wait to make a decision about calling a special session, which Republican lawmakers could ignore, until after he meets with Fitzgerald and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos in the coming weeks on the matter.
“I think Republican opposition to that is going to end up hurting them politically,” Evers said. “People of Wisconsin expect something. When 80 percent of the people say ‘Hey let’s do this because it’s important to us’ and one party is saying no way — that’s a political problem.”
The vast majority of people — 81% — in Wisconsin agree with expanding background checks, according to 2018 polling by Marquette University Law School.
Nationally, 96% of Democrats, 84% of Republicans and 89% of independents support the policy, according to a recent Marist poll.
Despite the wide support, Republicans are generally opposed to the policy.
“For any Republican to say ‘I support universal background checks’ would be career suicide,” Clemson University political scientist Steven Miller said.
The National Rifle Association’s political arm likely would help elect a primary opponent of any Republican candidate who seeks or supports such restrictions, Miller said, and support for the added safeguard, while wide, isn’t that intense.
“Most people think that’s a good idea, but most people don’t care too much and the people who oppose that are really serious about that,” he said. “Because the minority is much more mobilized, they are more likely to get what they want.”
To that point, the same Marquette University Law School polling showed that while 81% supported making the change, 43% didn’t think the measure would actually stop any mass shootings like the two in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, earlier this month.
“Most people think (expanded background checks are) a good idea, but most people don’t care too much and the people who oppose that are really serious about that. Because the minority is much more mobilized, they are more likely to get what they want.”
Steven Miller Clemson University political scientist