Last Saturday a local man was cited for disorderly conduct for openly carrying a handgun on State Street.  The story has made the rounds on local talk radio and news in recent days and it looks as if this will be challenged in court.

I believe it’s good that a concerned citizen saw a man with a gun and called the police.  Imagine if this had turned into some sort of shooting and either no one had called in or the police had not responded.  We’d all be asking “where were the police?” At the end of the day I think there is no way around the police being called to investigate or look into situations like this.  However, the police’s response to charge the man with disorderly conduct though wasn’t appropriate in my opinion. 

It’s ridiculous to charge a man with disorderly conduct for simply openly carrying a gun in a holster.  By all accounts he has no criminal record, legally owned the gun in question, and was doing nothing else to provoke anyone.  According to the police the basis for this charge was simply that some people were “disturbed” that he was carrying a gun.  If the police can detain someone for simply doing something that someone else finds disturbing then where do we draw the line?  If big dogs disturb me, can I call the police and have them charge the guy walking his dog around my neighborhood?  If certain dress or styles disturb me, will the police come and drive that person home to change their clothes for me?  Yes this particular situation involved a gun but the bottom line is that no law was broken.

Our own Attorney General recently wrote an opinion stating that open carry was well within our legal rights in the State of Wisconsin.  In the absence of brandishing the weapon or disturbing people in some other way, carrying a holstered gun is completely legal in his opinion and he’s the top law enforcement officer in the state.  Hopefully this will continue in the courts and we’ll get to the truth of the matter.