Wisconsin Supreme Court expands persons eligible to carry concealed weapon

The Supreme Court of Wisconsin unanimously ruled on the issue of individuals allowed to possess a license to carry a concealed weapon (CCW license) in the state, in effect broadening the eligibility, reported Jurist.

The case traces back to 1993 when petitioner-appellant Daniel Doubek received a misdemeanor conviction for domestic violence after he broke into his estranged wife’s home and proclaimed threats. In 2016, Doubek applied for and was issued a CCW license. However, a 2019 audit conducted by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) determined that Doubek’s misdemeanor conviction prohibited his possession of a CCW license. The DOJ found that his “conviction constituted a disqualifying ‘misdemeanor crime of domestic violence’ under federal law.” Doubek then initiated a lawsuit to reinstate the possession of his CCW license.

While the revocation of Doubek’s CCW license was upheld by the Circuit Court for Brown County, the Wisconsin Supreme Court reversed this decision and held that “disorderly conduct is not a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence under federal law, and therefore does not disqualify a person from holding a CCW license.”

In Justice Jill Karofsky’s concurrence, she wrote that “[t]hough legally correct, this result is as nonsensical as it is dangerous. In the realm of domestic violence, threats to kill, like the one Doubek made to his wife, more than double the risk of femicide.”

The case has been remanded to the circuit court.

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