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Proposed bill would allow guns on school grounds

Posted at 10:54 AM, Jan 14, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-14 19:43:09-05
As it stands right now, guns are not allowed on school grounds in the State of Wisconsin, but that could soon change.

On Jan. 13, Sen. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) along with co-author, Rep. Rob Brooks (R-Saukville) introduced the Wisconsin School Zone Empowerment Act.

If passed, the bill will give school districts the power to decide whether to prohibit or allow concealed-carry within school buildings, and clarifies the law about concealed–carry within a school zone.

“What’s happening is parents who have a concealed carry permit and drive through the property to drop their kids off at school are committing a felony,” Sen. Lazich said.

Nobody knows that law better than Harvey Laurich. He’s now a convicted felon after carrying a concealed gun on him when he went to pick up one of his grandchildren from school.

“I carry it all the time and just like anything else, sometimes you forget,” Laurich said.

Laurich says a janitor noticed he had a gun on him when he walked into Whitnall Middle School.

Police showed up at Harvey’s apartment the next day to question him.

“They took my gun and handcuffed me,” he said. “They put me in a squad car and took me to the police station.”

Harvey was given probation and no longer has his concealed carry permit and can’t vote.

His probation will end in the summer of 2016.

Sen. Lazich is shocked by Laurich’s case. Her bill has two missions. The first will make it legal for people to carry a concealed weapon in school zones. The second portion of her bill addresses the controversial topic of allowing guns inside a school.

“It allows school districts to determine policies within the buildings so a school district can have any policy  from having no guns to anything else they believe they would like in their school district.”

The bill is currently in circulation. It has not officially been assigned a number yet.