Will guns be allowed at the 2024 RNC in Milwaukee or in the security zone? Here's what Wisconsin law says.
Just days before his expected confirmation as the Republican Party's presidential nominee in Milwaukee, former President Donald Trump was rushed off stage — his ear and face streaked with blood — after an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement that the suspected shooter, now dead, fired multiple shots toward from an elevated position outside of the rally venue.
The shooting comes two days before the Republican National Convention is set to convene in Milwaukee.
Here are the rules on guns for the event.
Will guns be allowed at the RNC?
Guns will not be allowed inside Fiserv Forum or other buildings where RNC events are set to take place, or in the "hard perimeter" around the convention, where credentials are required for entry, aside from those those possessed by working law enforcement officers, according to Secret Service spokesperson.
Most guns, however, will not be banned in the area immediately outside the RNC perimeter, known as the security "footprint," because the city is prevented by state law from enacting such a ban.
Wisconsin law prohibits Milwaukee, local governments from regulating legal firearms
Wisconsin law prevents the city of Milwaukee, and all local governments "from prohibiting the possession or carrying of legal firearms," City Attorney Evan Goyke told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in May.
"Municipalities cannot regulate firearm possession beyond regulations in state statute," Goyke wrote in May.
A Milwaukee alderman in the lead-up to the convention sought to ban guns within the security “footprint” following revelations that a city ordinance would allow most firearms but prohibit typically innocuous items in the area.
The ordinance enacted ahead of the RNC prohibits bringing into the footprint "any dangerous ordnance, weapon, or firearm that is prohibited by the laws of the state of Wisconsin under" specific statutes that reference machine guns and other weapons; short-barreled shotguns and short-barreled rifles; and silencers.
Ald. Robert Bauman argued the state law was not written with an event like the RNC in mind, but his effort failed to gain traction on the council.
Earlier this week, another Milwaukee alderman's proposals to prohibit bump stocks in the city and increase city penalties for disorderly conduct while armed with a dangerous weapon failed to move forward. The bump stock proposal was determined to be illegal under state law by the City Attorney's Office, and the disorderly conduct proposal was held in council after a lengthy and heated discussion.
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What are Wisconsin's laws on guns?
In Wisconsin, like under federal law, convicted felons may not own guns. People under certain types of court orders related to mental health and addiction are also banned from possessing guns here, as well as people under certain types of restraining orders related to abuse or harassment.
Background checks are required to purchase a firearm from a federal firearms licensed dealer and to apply for a concealed carry license in Wisconsin.
Carrying a concealed weapon in Wisconsin is legal for individuals over age 21 who have met the state's requirements, which include training and a background check.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Will guns be allowed at the 2024 RNC, or Milwaukee security zone?
