In Which Conservatives Start Frothing at the Mouth

The MJS is reporting Governor Jim Doyle will propose closing the so-called “gun show loophole” as part of an anti-crime package he will present to the Legislature for consideration this fall. Here’s a list of the rest of Governor Doyle’s proposals:

• Allowing Wisconsin to contribute information to a national database that help increase monitoring of individuals who have been civilly committed or prohibited by a court from using a firearm. This would prevent people from traveling to a state where their background is unavailable to purchase a firearm and coming back to Wisconsin to commit a crime, Doyle said.
• Rolling back a 1995 law that erased all local ordinances related to firearms. Doyle said denied municipalities and counties from enacting any new laws that would be more restrictive than state statutes.
• Tracking guns used in multiple crimes by requiring ballistic fingerprinting, matching the marks made by a bullet when fired from a gun with marks on the inside of the barrel of the gun. He said that would create a trail for law enforcement to track down both guns and criminals.
• Prohibiting possession or purchase of a gun by anyone who has been convicted of a misdemeanor that involved a firearm.
• Banning the sale of handguns to people under 21, except for licensed purposes or weapons passed down through families, such as hunting heirlooms.

Of course, I expect the gun crazy conservatives will be all over this news like flies on dung, and no doubt they’ll scream about how Jim Doyle wants to take away guns so no one has them except criminals. There’ll be much gnashing of conservative teeth, and I imagine hilarity will ensue as wingnut bloggers all over the Cheddarsphere spin their tales of doom and gloom. Personally, I think a lot of the measures proposed by Governor Doyle make a heck of a lot of sense, and I can’t help but wonder what took so long to propose them.

EDIT: It didn’t take long for the wingnuts over at Badger Blogger to start frothing at the mouth over Doyle’s plan. Go take a look…hilarity is ensuing!