House Bill Targets Local (Gun) Control

Conventional wisdom tells us that conservative policymakers greatly value the idea of "local control". However we increasingly see elected officials proclaiming allegiance to that philosophy while only choosing to actually practice it when it is politically convenient. The latest example of this can be seen in a bill currently making its way through the U.S. House of Representatives. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence has accurately named HR 822 as the "Packing Heat on Your Street" bill.

This extreme legislation would force states to allow the carrying of loaded, hidden guns by untrained, out-of-state visitors, even by persons legally barred from possessing guns in the state where the carrying occurs. So much for the sacred conservative idea of "local control". Many legislators that are pushing this bill have tossed aside their normal "local control" mantra and have instead adopted a big federal government one-size-fits-all approach. It is clear that this legislation is more of an appeasement of extremists like those running the NRA than it is about making good public policy.

For many years the State of Wisconsin wisely resisted allowing the concealed carrying of firearms. Unfortunately concealed carry legislation finally passed in Wisconsin earlier this year and the law becomes effective on November 1. While the new law is a major mistake and doesn't have nearly enough protections built into it at least it was only a modified version of the original. That version was even more extreme and promoted the inappropriately named idea of "constitutional carry". Essentially allowing just about everyone to carry concealed weapons anywhere without background checks, training or limits of any kind. Even though the new Wisconsin law backed away from that radical notion, that fact could be rendered mute if HR 822 is passed in Washington, DC.

The new Wisconsin concealed carry law allows local municipalities and businesses to ban concealed firearms in their buildings. They would do this by posting signs declaring that firearms are not allowed. As the November 1 deadline approaches many Wisconsin municipalities, including the state's largest , are quickly establishing those local limits. Likewise the entire University of Wisconsin system and Marquette University are moving to prevent concealed weapons in their buildings.

Businesses are also quickly learning the best way to proceed given the many questions that still remain. Advocacy groups such as the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort (WAVE) are asking concerned members of the public to request that businesses protect their safety by banning hidden guns in their establishments.

However, all of this local work in states like Wisconsin could be totally disregarded if the big federal government declaration that exists in HR 822 actually becomes law. While we wait for members of Congress to decide if they really want to target the allegedly cherished idea of "local control", we are certainly not helpless. The Brady Campaign has a wealth of information on this legislation and the problems that it would pose to our states and to our local communities.

This post is written as part of the Media Matters Gun Facts fellowship. The purpose of the fellowship is to further Media Matters' mission to comprehensively monitor, analyze, and correct conservative misinformation in the U.S. media. Some of the worst misinformation occurs around the issue of guns, gun violence, and extremism, the fellowship program is designed to fight this misinformation with facts.

Secret Legislation, Sidestepping Public Sounds Familiar

Late last week reports started surfacing about Scott Walker preparing to advance Michigan-style "financial marshall law" legislation in Wisconsin. Basically such legislation would allow Walker to apply a financial "stress test" to local municipalities, counties and school districts. If they fail such a test, he could then appoint god-knows-who to take control of that local government and render the local elected officials (and the voters that chose them) useless.

This morning while speaking to his admirers at Journal Communications Inc. Walker denied these rumors. He went on to say that this report was "absolutely false" because no one on his staff or in his administration was working on such a plan. It seems to me that the natural follow up question to his answer would be something like this: "But would you support such legislation if it were introduced in the legislature?" We can't expect these particular Walker admirers to ask such a question but hopefully others in the media will dig deeper than Walker's word.

Such an extreme policy like "financial marshall law" is sadly not out of the realm of possibility. Walker has proven that he is willing to support just about any radical notion as long as it advances his political ambitions and feeds the bottom lines of the money bags that pull his strings. Not to mention the fact that this kind of legislation passed in Michigan and is being currently enacted. There is also a new "organization" that seems to support this kind of extreme legislation at least as it applies to Milwaukee County. So is it really outside the realm to think that it could happen here and that Scott Walker would suddenly become its biggest cheerleader?

The original report claims that the law firm Foley & Lardner is writing the "financial marshall law" plan. This certainly wouldn't be a surprise to anyone that remembers other actions by this firm just a handful of years ago. When Milwaukee's big business elites couldn't convince the Milwaukee County Board to give up one of its biggest assets, General Mitchell International Airport, they brought in this same firm to write legislation to bypass the board. In fact the legislation that was being written in secret would have also allowed them to take this valuable asset from Milwaukee County without even a single vote from the board or from the public. With this secret legislation, special interests worked with their Milwaukee-area errand runner Rep. Jeff Stone (R-Greendale).

I don't personally have enough information to verify that this "financial martial law" legislation is actually in process but that isn't my basic point here. I am simply saying that it wouldn't be a surprise, even with Walker's carefully crafted denial today. It wouldn't be the first time that secret legislation was being written by special interests, it wouldn't be the first time that they tried to sidestep local officials and the people that elected them. And it certainly wouldn't be the first time that special interests made a play for valuable public assets that they have already coveted for a very long time.

The (big) state government & local (damage) control

For as long as I can remember Republicans and other self-described conservatives have praised the idea of local control. It is the idea that the most local form of government knows how to best manage services because they deal most directly with their constituents. It seems that Wisconsin Republicans have all but abandoned that idea now that they have taken control of the entire state government.

Scott Walker and his rubber stamp legislature have taken extreme actions to greatly empower the role of the state and weaken the control of local municipalities. The first example was when they inserted (big) state government in between local municipalities and their own employees. Although many municipalities have had good relationships with their workers and with the unions that represent them, the (big) state government has ordered a one-size-fits-all approach that is both unprecedented and extreme. Not only is the state creating strife where none previously existed but it is also requiring local governments to play favorites. If you are a public works employee you are now second class but if you work in the police and fire departments you get every advantage.

The Republican plan to dramatically cut shared revenue to local governments also puts them into an increasingly smaller box. The (big) state government claims that their killing of public employee unions will make up for this dramatic loss in shared revenue. In fact a recent study showed that for at least 36 municipalities across the state, Walker's anti-union plans only covers 61% of the cuts that are coming to the shared revenue program. One mayor commented that "Simply shifting the state budget deficit to local budgets doesn't help the taxpayers of Wisconsin."

Here are a few more examples where Walker and his rubber stamps in the legislature are showing their new found love for the power of the (big) state government:

• Trying to micromanage the City of Milwaukee by ending its residency requirements for city employees. Not only is the (big) state government meddling in a local matter but they are only targeting the City of Milwaukee.
• Scott Walker's (big) state government has also decided that local recycling programs are unworthy so the state has stepped up its efforts to cut them by 40 percent. That will leave local governments to pick up whatever pieces of the program that may be left behind.
• Scott Walker's also plans on greatly increasing spending on state highway construction. However we can tell a lot about Walker priorities because he is also planning to cut state aid for local road repair. Maybe local municipalities should start referring to them as "Scott holes" when they field the increasing complaints.
  

In all of these ways we can see that our local municipalities and counties will be left to handle state induced problems but with much less money and very little support. It is becoming increasingly clear that this new band of extreme Republicans don't really believe in "local control". Perhaps they only believe in local (damage) control when someone has t0 clean up the ideologically driven mess that they will leave behind.

UPDATE: Maybe these extreme Republicans don't even believe in local (damage) control. There are rumors that the next group of proposals from this extreme bunch involves a Michigan-style ability for the (big) state government to takeover municipalities and other districts. There already appears to be a shadowy group formed to advance the agenda. If the (big) state government decides that your local municipality/school district isn't up to snuff, then you get taken over by god-knows-who but it probably wouldn't be anyone that you voted for in the last local election.