Allowing guns in RNC security zone is crazy. Wisconsin GOP created this madness. | Opinion

If you plan on attending the Republican National Convention events in Milwaukee, there are safety protocols to keep in mind. Some everyday items such as coolers, glass bottles, hammocks, light bulbs, and tennis balls are all banned inside the security zone.

But firearms? No problem!

Some guns are banned, but not the ones you’re probably thinking of. Paintball guns, BB guns, pellet guns, machine guns, water guns, air rifles, air pistols and short-barreled shotguns are strictly prohibited. But handguns? Hunting rifles? AR-style firearms? A-OK!

If this sounds crazy to you, you’re not alone. In Wisconsin, local governments are often prohibited from enforcing any gun law more restrictive than state law. These “preemption” laws are why Milwaukee must allow 55,000 visitors to carry firearms in and around many RNC events.

Wisconsin laws prohibit local governments from acting on many issues

And it’s not just gun laws. Wisconsin is among states with the most areas of law under pre-emption restrictions in the country. Milwaukee -  or any other city, town, or village in Wisconsin - can not ban plastic bags, increase its minimum wage, grant paid sick days, raise needed revenue, or protect worker health and safety without permission from Madison.

On gun safety laws specifically, poll after poll reveals how out of touch Republicans in Madison are with most Wisconsinites.

According to a June 2022 Marquette University poll, nearly 80% of Wisconsin voters want more restrictive gun laws to help stem the epidemic of gun violence.They want common sense changes like background checks on every gun sale and extreme risk protection orders to prevent shootings and self-harm. These proposals have been introduced over and over again in the legislature, but Republican leaders refuse to give these bills a public hearing.

For years, Democrats have also proposed legislation to do away with the firearm preemption law and allow local leaders to make decisions about public safety. It’s obvious that Marinette is very different from Milwaukee or Madison, yet on issue after issue, Republicans refuse to take regional needs and differences into account.

In the run-up to the RNC we spoke with our Republican colleagues about our safety concerns and urged them to hold public hearings on these bills, to no avail. Now the Milwaukee City Attorney confirms what we have known all along, and what we have tried so hard to avoid: state law says that guns must be allowed at one of the largest events the city has ever hosted.

Legislative mandates show need for new voices in Madison

We have every confidence in our local safety professionals, who will be assisted by the Secret Service and many of our nation’s foremost security experts, and we expect the RNC to be an incredible showcase for Wisconsin’s first class city. But legislative inaction is making our first responders’ jobs harder – and unnecessarily putting lives at risk.

This fall, Wisconsin voters have the ability to fundamentally re-shape our political discourse in Madison by electing legislative candidates who reject hyper-partisanship and embrace common-sense solutions. Public safety is too important for a one-size-fits-all mandate, and we don’t need to restrict gun rights in Superior to reduce gun violence in Milwaukee.

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Laws that allow firearms but ban tennis balls are the result of decades of top-down Republican control in the legislature. We urgently need more state legislators who will put their neighbors’ concerns ahead of the demands of the gun lobby, respect local control, and empower local officials to make thoughtful decisions that are best for their communities. For those of us who believe in local control, it’s time to vote like it.

Deb Andraca, a Democrat, represents the 23rd Assembly District, which includes Bayside, Brown Deer Fox Point, Mequon, River Hills, Thiensville and Whitefish Bay. Chris Larson, a Democrat, represents the 7th Senate District, which includes Cudahy, Oak Creek, St. Francis, South Milwaukee, Milwaukee and Franklin.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Local governments have hands tied by state on sensible gun regulations