Wisconsin Carry, Inc. files Federal lawsuit against City of Madison/Chief of Police

OFF THE WIRE
September 30, 2010
For immediate release:

On September 29th, Wisconsin Carry, Inc filed a Federal lawsuit against the City
of Madison and Madison Police Chief Noble Wray.

A copy of this lawsuit is available here:

http://www.wisconsincarry.org/pdf/Madison/MadisonComplaint.pdf

The City of Madison may not deny individuals the right to carry handguns in
nonsensitive
places, deprive individuals of the right to carry handguns in an arbitrary and
capricious
manner, or enforce its laws, customs and practices through its police department
or impose
regulations on the right to carry handguns that are inconsistent with the rights
guaranteed by the
Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, § 25 of the
Wisconsin
Constitution.

On Saturday, September 18, 2010, five (5) members of WCI met for dinner
at a Culvers Restaurant in Madison, Wisconsin. Each of these individuals was
openly carrying a
handgun when they arrived at the restaurant, entered the restaurant and ordered
and ate their
meals. At or about the time that the WCI members finished their meal and left
the
restaurant, a woman in her car observed them openly carrying handguns and called
911 to report it to the City of Madison Police Department. The 911 caller
informed the dispatcher that she didn't know if it was an emergency, the men
were doing nothing wrong and appeared totally relaxed, weren't threatening
anyone and the restaurant was full of people but they each had sidearms and she
didn't know if that was legal.

Upon being informed by the 911 dispatcher that open-carry is legal the woman
stated "then there is no problem and its not an emergency". The dispatcher then
suggests that if the woman is concerned or disturbed then it becomes a problem
and the woman says "no they weren't threatening anybody or acting threatening".
When the dispatcher informs the caller they are sending officers she says "well
I feel bad then because they weren't doing anything wrong"

Listen to the 911 call here:

http://tijil.org/Madison_5_911_call.mp3

As these WCI members left the restaurant, they were accosted by eight (8) City
of
Madison police officers, who demanded that they produce identification, and
threatened that if
they did not do so, they would be arrested. From the time that these WCI members
arrived at the
restaurant up to and including the time that the police officers confronted them
and demanded
that they produce identification or face arrest, none of the WCI members
violated any law, nor
were they involved in any violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous,
unreasonably loud or
otherwise disorderly conduct, nor did they through their conduct cause or
provoke any
disturbance.

Wisconsin law does not allow officers to arrest for merely refusing to provide
ID. 2 days later, Madison Police admitted the error in arresting and charging
our members with obstruction, rescinded those tickets and instead, despite there
being no disturbance, and no laws broken, issued disorderly conduct charges to
all 5 of our members.

The Madison Police Department also issued a press release which relayed a
department procedure which would violate the rights of law-abiding open-carriers
who would choose to go legally armed for self-defense in Madison. The press
release can be read here:

http://www.cityofmadison.com/news/view.cfm?news_id=2231

By arresting our members without cause and issuing a press release detailing a
policy of violating the rights of other law-abiding open-carriers who should
choose to carry in Madison, Wisconsin Carry immediately took action to file a
lawsuit to prevent this chilling effect on the right to Carry in Madison. We
look forward to the precedent this lawsuit will set.

Those who work, live, or travel to Madison are entitled to the same rights as
the rest of the state. Wisconsin has a state and federal constitutionally
guaranteed right to carry. Open-carry is the only legal way to carry in this
state. Wisconsin's attorney general verified the legality of open-carry in a
memo to all police chiefs and district attorney's in 2009. The City of Madison
may not deny individuals the right to carry handguns in nonsensitive places,
deprive individuals of the right to carry handguns in an arbitrary and
capricious manner, or enforce its laws, customs and practices through its police
department or impose regulations on the right to carry handguns that are
inconsistent with the rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the United
States Constitution and Article I, § 25 of the Wisconsin Constitution.

The financial support from across the country extended to Wisconsin Carry which
allows us the resources to file this lawsuit has been exceptional. On behalf of
WCI, our members, and freedom minded Wisconsinites who embrace the right to
carry we wish to offer a special thank-you to Buckeye Firearms Foundation.

BFF is a tax-exempt foundation which collected and matched donations from people
across the country totaling over $7,500 through there website:
http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/7450

Wisconsin Carry is a non-profit 100% volunteer organization dedicated to the
protection and expansion of the right of law-abiding Wisconsinites to carry in
the manner of their choosing; open carry or concealed carry.
www.wisconsincarry.org

Nik Clark
Chairman/President - Wisconsin Carry, Inc.
nik@wisconsincarry.org