Caledonia Man Watching Concealed Carry Law Debate Closely

The prospect of Wisconsin becoming one of the latest and last states to enact a law that allows citizens to carry a concealed weapon has piqued the interest of Caledonia resident Jerry Mojeck.

Mojeck is the vice-president of Twin Cities Security in West Allis. His firm specializes in private detective work and security detail for clients throughout the area. The firm also operates a training school that is geared toward public safety and security training. The class instructors teach students correct shooting and safety techniques along with the statute particulars.  

"Quit frankly, I thought it was good training to bring to our employees here to prepare them for conceal-carry here in Wisconsin, especially our detectives and people that do personal protection work," he said.

Mojeck invested in an conceal-carry certified instructor, who teaches the four hours of training that is needed for the Utah permit. The state of Utah has designed a permit system that 31 states now accept through reciprocation agreements. The Utah permit is considered the standard in conceal-carry laws.  

Two conceal-carry bills were introduced earlier this week in Madison. One of the bills requires an armed individual to have a permit. The other measure is a constitutional-carry bill that would allow residents to be armed without a permit.

"A lot of gun advocates would take the constitutional-carry bill, no permit required and say that is (their) right," Mojeck said. "I'm a person that believes in exercising your right to carry your firearm. I do believe in a permitting purpose, because I think it is important to verify people's backgrounds to make sure that they are in the state of mind to carry a firearm."

Sen. Pam Galloway, R-Wausau is a co-sponsor of the bills. The two bills do not require training for those who would want to carry their firearm in a concealed fashion. Private property owners can post their business, meaning they can prohibit firearms.

This is the third time a concealed-carry bill have been introduced in Madison during the last 10 years. The other two were vetoed, in 2003 and 2005, by the Governor.  

"We have come along way in eight years, there are 48 states that have this," said Jen Esser, a staffer in Sen. Galloway's office. "People have realized that it is not the shoot-out at the O.K. Corral that some people have envisioned it to be."

Although the Wild West is not necessarily a concern for most, Caledonia Police Chief Toby Schey said from a tactical sense concealed-carry laws complicates the job of a police officer.

"From a law-enforcement standpoint, it creates another level of concern for an officer because you don't know if that person has the right to carry a weapon and what their intent is," Schey said. "But then again, the bad guys are going to carry the weapons either way probably."

Schey said he believes in that law-abiding citizens should be able to bear arms, a right afforded to them under the Constitution. He suggested, however, for area residents to wait and see how these bills shake out in Madison before taking a class.

According Esser, the state of Wisconsin is now the exemption to the rule in terms of concealed-carry laws since 48 other states have some sort of conceal carry law on the books. Illinois is the only other state that does not.