Gun laws in Wisconsin

Localities may impose a sales or use tax, and may restrict the discharge of firearms (except for self-defense).

[2] On March 8, 2017, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that Madison's Metro Transit rule forbidding firearms on public buses violated the state's preemption law, and that people who are lawfully carrying arms must be allowed to carry on public buses.

The law allows Wisconsin to become the 49th state in the Union to make some provision for the concealed carry of firearms by normal citizens.

[12] In the past, some jurisdictions have tried to prosecute open-carry by equating the open carry of handguns with disorderly conduct.

On April 20, 2009, the Wisconsin Attorney General's office released a memorandum to all law enforcement agencies stating that mere open carry of a firearm was not disorderly conduct, and instructed both law enforcement and the district attorneys to cease this practice.

In 2011 a subsection was added to the Disorderly Conduct statute (947.01 [13]) reading "Unless other facts and circumstances that indicate a criminal or malicious intent on the part of the person apply, a person is not in violation of, and may not be charged with a violation of, this section for loading, carrying, or going armed with a firearm, without regard to whether the firearm is loaded or is concealed or openly carried."

[16] On December 7, 2011, Governor Scott Walker signed a bill passing a castle doctrine for Wisconsin.

Protection extends to improvements only (driveway, sidewalk, patio, fence, garage, house...), not bare ground.

Long guns must be unloaded while the motor is running; they are not required to be encased, but must be in plain sight.

[citation needed] Exceptions to carrying concealed include anyone on their own property, on-duty law enforcement officers, military personnel on active duty, landowners and their family and employees on farm tractors inside CWD eradication zones, and disabled hunters with special permits meeting all the requirements.

A sales receipt is recommended in case the buyer needs to prove ownership (as when retrieving firearms which have been confiscated by police).

As of July 24, 2015, there is no longer a 48-hour waiting period on handgun purchases from an FFL (Federal Firearms License) (does not apply to private sales).

However, a purchaser is prohibited from receiving a handgun from a FFL dealer until they've paid a permitting fee and the state DOJ conducts an additional background check (over and above the Federal 4473).

As of January 2013, anyone who is legal to possess a firearm may openly carry a pistol in a state park without a license.

The restriction still applies to fish hatcheries and long guns, and in order to enter a taxpayer-owned building anywhere (including a park) one must be a licensee.

WI statute 941.23[7] Carrying a handgun without a concealed carry license where alcohol is sold AND consumed (the class B establishment – a "tavern", a place which sells alcohol for on-premises consumption) is generally a class A misdemeanor unless you have permission from the owner, manager, or agent of the establishment.

When carrying openly with permission of the owner or manager, it is legal to consume alcohol as long as you do not become "materially impaired".

WI statute 941.2965 [31] Committing a crime while possessing a dangerous weapon is a penalty enhancer.

[34] This statute does not apply to: It is a forfeiture (fine) to possess a usable firearm on public property within 1000 feet of a school unless the carrier is a licensee.

WI statute 175.37[38] Upon the retail commercial sale or retail commercial transfer of any firearm, the seller or transferor shall provide to the buyer or transferee the following written warning in block letters not less than one-fourth inch in height: “IF YOU LEAVE A LOADED FIREARM WITHIN THE REACH OR EASY ACCESS OF A CHILD YOU MAY BE FINED OR IMPRISONED OR BOTH IF THE CHILD IMPROPERLY DISCHARGES, POSSESSES OR EXHIBITS THE FIREARM."

[47] This suspension also applies to students who make bomb threats or having CCW violations in taxpayer-owned buildings.