Hey all,I thought you'd be interested in reading this, as I found my local city didn't allow carrying in parks along with another interesting rule.This is a long read, so I will TLDR at the bottom, in case you don't want to read it.A week or so ago, I registered my dogs with the city. They require registration to use the dog parks. We have a good sized yard (about an acre), but only a third is fenced.So, after registering my dogs, I took a look at the local city ordinances to see if there were any laws I needed to be aware of.On a whim, I thought I'd search for local ordinances about carrying firearms, since I open carry most days. I found a few things, including one law that state in order to buy a gun, I had to get a permit, applied in person with the local chief of police.Mind you, this is WI, and we have preemption, and are overall, an awesome state for gun ownership. I reached out to the local chief of police and asked for more info and how they rectify issues with the state preemption.Here is my correspondence and their reply:Hello Chief Weber,I had left you a voice mail regarding this, but wanted to make sure I left an email, if that's easier for you. My wife and I recently moved to the city of Wauwatosa, and we have two dogs. We just got them registered with the city, so we could bring them to the local dog parks. However, I noticed, going through the city ordinances that you have quite a few ordinances that are in direct conflict with WI state law... namely:6.84.050 - Purchase—Permit required—Exception. - Which implies that if I live in Wauwatosa, I need a permit to buy a gun.7.65.030 - Use of firearms, fireworks; hunting with bow and arrow and trapping; throwing of missiles; making of fires; deposit or breakage of tin cans, bottles and glassware; prohibitions. - Which states "No person shall carry, fire or discharge any gun, pistol or firearm, ... within any park or parkway without a written permit of the park commission ...."Both of these laws are covered under WIS STAT 66.0409. Specifically: https://ift.tt/2OiY2sI and https://ift.tt/2p4XE5L I plan on purchasing future firearms and plan on continuing to carry daily, how can I be assured that your local officers will respect WI state law and not cause trouble for this law. I greatly appreciate your looking into this. I highly respect law enforcement, and want to make sure that all relations are secure and intact. Thanks!For reference, the law about getting a permit to buy a guy states: "No person shall purchase any dangerous weapon or gun without securing a permit therefor from the chief of police. Before such permit is granted an application therefor shall be made in writing, setting forth the name, address, age, height, weight, complexion, nationality and other elements of identification of the person desiring such permit. The application shall also contain a recommendation from at least two taxpaying residents of the city that the permit be issued."About two days later, I got a response from them:Thank you for your online inquiry regarding two ordinances that exist in our Wauwatosa Municipal Code.We appreciate you taking the time to research our local ordinances. I took a look at the two ordinances you pointed out, and researched our records for instances of enforcement of these ordinances. I did not find any instances of our police department enforcing either ordinance in the past 14 years. Going back further into our history would require more work, but based on this search, I can say with confidence that our department has not enforced either, will not enforce either, and has been compliant with WI State Statute 66.0409(4)(b), which states that “…the political subdivision may not enforce the ordinance or resolution on or after November 18, 1995.”I will pass along this information to our City Attorney as well. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank youSo, overall, I found it interesting that they knew that the law existed, and they knew it was in conflict with our state's preemption law. However, I hope that they pass it on to the city attourney and actually do something about it. I will likely be pursuing this and attempting to prompt them to have it stricken from the city ordinances.TLDR: Local city ordinances bar carrying guns in parks and require a lengthy permit to purchase one. I reach out citing state preemption laws, they tell me they won't enforce local city ordinances due to said preemption.Thanks for the read all! Make sure you are checking your local ordinances and holding your city officials accountable! via /r/CCW https://ift.tt/2Oewqot
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