WI Legislature Approves Removal of DNR rule which Violated Second Amendment

On Wednesday, January 29th, 2025, the Wisconsin legislature Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules (JCRAR) approved of the repeal of Wis. Admin. Code § NR 20.05(2) .

“No person may…[p]ossess or control any firearm, gun or similar device at any time while on the waters, banks or shores that might be used for the purpose of fishing.”

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) rule had been in place since 1999. The rule had effectively banned the possession of firearms over wide areas of the State of Wisconsin.

The repeal took place because the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty  (WILL) filed a lawsuit on June 6, 2024, as reported on AmmoLand.

Because the violation of the United States Second Amendment and Wisconsin Constitution Section 25, was obvious, Acting Secretary of the Wisconsin DNR, Steven Little, agreed to to repeal Wis. Admin. Code § NR 20.05(2) as soon as possible.

The website of the Wisconsin administrative code shows the rule has been suspended since December 17, 2024.

Bureaucracies move slowly. Changes in administrative rules in Wisconsin must be approved by the legislature, specifically the Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules. On January 29th, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported the JCRAR had approved of the repeal of the rule. From jsonline.com:

After announcement of the lawsuit last year, the Department of Natural Resources pledged to repeal the rule, and said it already didn’t enforce the rule. But, the agency said, anglers still won’t be allowed to use guns to shoot fish, just simply carry them for protection.

The rule applied to everyone, not just anglers. “No person” is everyone. There was no exception, even for law enforcement.

This reporter was unable to confirm the approval at the Wisconsin Legislature website.  Skylar Croy, a lawyer with the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, was intimately involved in the case. Skylar was contacted. He confirmed JCRAR had approved of the repeal of the rule by the DNR, on a vote of 7-3. Eventually, the proceedings of the committee will be published. We may be able to determine the three Wisconsin legislators who voted to keep the obviously unconstitutional restriction in place.

The origin of the rule is shrouded in mystery. It appeared as part of a general restructuring of the administrative code in 1999. To the knowledge of this correspondent, no one has been willing to admit to changing the language to such a broad and unconstitutional prohibition.

Analysis:

Citizens must constantly guard against this sort of unaccountable activism in legislatures. WILL is to be congratulated for their victory in Wisconsin.

This correspondent noticed a similar situation in New South Wales Australia. Draconian restrictions were placed on museums which displayed firearms. The restrictions were placed in an “administrative” change which was claimed not to include any substantive legal changes. When the change was noted, no one claimed responsibility for it. Unlike Wisconsin, Australia has no Constitutional protection for the right to keep and bear arms. When this correspondent contacted a previous minority leader in the New South Wales Parliament, he said he would look into the matter. Later, he declared “success” by obtaining an exemption for the Lithgow Small Arms Factory Museum.  No one in the New South Wales Parliament was willing to repeal the draconian rule.

©2025 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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Source: http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2025/02/wi-legislature-approves-removal-of-dnr.html