With Biden losing control of the House, the fight for gun rights is headed back where I love fighting for it the most: at the state level, right here in Madison!
The 2023 General Assembly just convened, and WIFC’s team has spent weeks finalizing our legislative agenda for the year, along with the budget we’ll need to flood the Capitol with grassroots pressure.
To be clear, we’ll need to keep a wary eye on Congress this year too, as there are more than enough RINOs to pass a gun control bill through the GOP-controlled House.
But with such massive majorities in the Assembly and Senate here in Madison, 2023 will be a rare opportunity to advance critical gun rights legislation!
From passing the Second Amendment Preservation Act, to banning the use of federal dollars to enforce ‘Red Flag’ laws, to expanding the protections of gun owners through Stand-Your-Ground laws — there’s a lot on the line this year!
The truth is Wisconsin needs all these bills to pass.
But the hard reality is that there’s a limit to how much we can spend on any one particular political fight. So, while I’d love nothing more than to go ‘all in’ on each of the bills I mentioned above, we simply don’t have the resources for that.
That’s why I am writing you today.
We need to decide where to focus the financial resources that you’ve given to us -– along with our time –- during this upcoming legislative session, and we need to decide quickly.
The 2022 election program that the Wisconsin Firearms Coalition ran was a big success!
Ron Johnson remained in the U.S. Senate and the Republicans in Madison clinched a VETO-PROOF majority in the Wisconsin Senate and landed only a couple seats short in the Assembly. In short, Tony Evers is going to have a HARD TIME stopping our pro-gun bills.
But that success came at a steep financial cost.
To be clear, I wouldn’t change a thing.
But as things stand today, WIFC has the cash on hand for one major political battle next session. We simply can’t handle three fights in Madison simultaneously.
So, I am counting on you to tell us where to focus this session. But before you do, let me explain what these bills do and why we need them so badly, so you have all the facts.
One of the bills that deserves our utmost attention is the Second Amendment Preservation Act, known as SAPA.
Thanks to gun owners, Joe Biden has lost control of the House, which means the days of him ramming his gun control bills through that chamber at warp speed are officially over.
That’s why Biden is ALREADY talking about mandating more gun control through Executive Orders this year. But here’s the secret to that: Biden needs Wisconsin cops to enforce these orders here — he doesn’t have the manpower to do it on his own.
But if Wisconsin passes SAPA legislation this session, with a VETO-PROOF majority vote, Wisconsin cops will be instructed to only enforce Wisconsin laws when it comes to firearms, ammunition, and accessories, not Biden’s insanity.
To be very clear: this is perfectly legal. The State of Wisconsin gets to decide how our cops are used since it’s taxpayers here in Wisconsin who pay for our law enforcement budget. This is the very definition of ‘States Rights’ under the 10th Amendment.
In fact, the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that when
the state and federal government disagree on something, the feds
may not simply force the states to comply. It’s the opposite!
So while Biden is free to send feds into Wisconsin to enforce his gun control laws, our cops will NOT help him do it. And the fact is that without Wisconsin cops to aid him, Biden’s gun control edicts will simply be unenforced here in Wisconsin!
But SAPA doesn’t just protect gun owners, it protects cops.
You and I both know that Wisconsin is full of troopers, city cops, and sheriff’s deputies who love the Second Amendment. I hear from them all the time at events and in the Capitol.
The last thing these pro-gun cops want to do is enforce tyrannical gun control from the White House that wasn’t even voted on by a single member of Congress! SAPA gives them the legal protection they need against a hostile department head!
Missouri has SAPA law on the books. They passed it last year. And not only has the DOJ lost all three of their legal challenges, but Missouri cops have also maintained law and order just fine — without being used by Joe Biden to attack gun owners.
Clearly, Wisconsin can (and must) do the same thing!
But Biden has other tricks up his sleeve.
Knowing that SAPA would effectively negate his Executive Orders, Biden is turning to the oldest trick in the book for a federal government: bribing the states using taxpayer money.
Specifically, Biden is offering states like Wisconsin tens of millions of dollars if they agree to pass a ‘Red Flag Gun Seizure’ law at the state level!
And this isn’t a vain threat.
Last summer Biden passed a massive gun control bill in Congress that gave him $750 MILLION to use for exactly this reason. And with state legislatures going into session all over America right now, the DOJ is actively offering these bribes!
The damage that a ‘Red Flag Gun Seizure’ law would inflict on gun owners in Wisconsin is almost impossible to quantify.
You see, under ‘Red Flag’ laws, almost anyone can file a complaint with the police alleging that you’re ‘dangerous.’ The ‘evidence’ could be practically anything, and totally bogus.
And when (not if, when) the judge agrees with this complaint, they will immediately order the confiscation of every firearm and every round of ammo that you own. And they’ll send a SWAT TEAM to your door to conduct the seizure!
But notice that nowhere in this process are you required to be charged — let alone convicted — of a crime.
This is what the Radical Left has wanted for a long time: the power to seize firearms from anyone they want through a bureaucratic process, with no need to convict us of a crime or follow the ‘due process’ rights that a court would ensure.
I would like to think that ‘Red Flag’ legislation would be dead on arrival here in Madison. Because of the pressure of WIFC members, we’ve successfully crushed this bill for years.
But you and I both know that our legislative majorities in Madison have more than a few RINOs in them.
And if we have a mass shooting during this legislative session, these RINOs WILL be pushing their caucus to pass ‘Red Flag Gun Seizures’ — especially with Joe Biden flashing tens of millions of dollars in their face!
That’s why we’re having legislation filed that would ban ‘Red Flag’ laws here in Wisconsin. More than that, our legislation would ban the use of any federal money for the purpose of enforcing gun seizures here in Wisconsin.
But if the last two years have taught us anything, it’s that liberal county attorneys love going after innocent gun owners who are forced to defend themselves.
We watched this play out in 2020 and 2021 as Kyle Rittenhouse had to defend himself twice, once from violent thugs and then again from thuggish prosecutors.
This can’t continue.
That’s why the Wisconsin Firearms Coalition is working to have legislation filed to immediately pass Stand-Your-Ground law!
Already on the books in thirty-eight states, Stand-Your-Ground law removes the “duty to retreat” from a violent attacker, provides immunity from anti-gun prosecutors and criminals, and codifies the “threatened use of force” so that gun owners can use a firearm to defend themselves in the event of a violent attack!
I don’t know about you, but I believe the law should put the interests of law-abiding Wisconsin citizens ahead of thugs and madmen.
States like Iowa, Missouri and Ohio recently passed Stand-Your-Ground into law and there’s only a hand full of Leftist states that haven’t passed it.
Wisconsin isn’t one of those Leftist states. Wisconsin needs to pass Stand-Your-Ground law.
Quite frankly, with Antifa and BLM thugs rioting, looting, and burning our cities in the past – and liberal politicians DEFUNDING the police – it has never been more important for Wisconsinites to have the law on their side instead of protecting criminals!
So-called “pro-gun” politicians have been promising to advance Stand-Your-Ground law for years but have REFUSED to put the bill up for a vote, choosing instead to choke and satisfy the Fake News media and anti-gun politicians.
But the political power of Wisconsin Firearms Coalition’ membership has exploded since then and advancing a full-blown Stand-Your-Ground bill in this Legislative Session could be a major priority.
I’m sure you can see why I’m so torn.
This isn’t an either/or situation. We need ALL THREE of these laws on the books, and we need them right away!
But I must be realistic.
Right now, after the expensive election program that we just ran, we just don’t have the funds to run a full-scale program on all three of these bills at the same time!
That’s why I’m counting on you to please fill out your Wisconsin Firearms Coalition Member Ballot immediately and tell me where to focus the resources that we have.
Of course, when you do so, you’ll notice that I have included another option on your membership ballot — an option that we haven’t talked about yet because it’s just not possible without a major influx of funds.
But I’m not going to lie, this is the option I hope you will choose.
That’s OPTION #4: “FIGHT FOR SAPA LEGISLATION, WORK TO BAN RED-FLAG GUN SEIZURES, AND PASS STAND-YOUR-GROUND LAW PROTECTIONS. FIGHT EVERYWHERE!!!!”
Please note that if you select this option, I’m hoping that you’ll include a generous donation of $100 or more to make sure that we have the resources we need to fight for all these bills.
I know that’s a lot. But 2023 is a great opportunity to secure freedoms that are badly needed, while blocking Joe Biden from using our cops to enforce his tyranny.
So, if $100 is just too much, won’t you please agree to $75, $50 at least $25 or $10?
The General Assembly is just convening, I need to hear from you as soon as possible.
Please fill out and submit your Membership Ballot today along with your most generous contribution.
For Wisconsin,
Ben Dorr
Executive Director
Wisconsin Firearms Coalition