Milwaukee council committee rejects effort to ban guns in Republican Convention security area

An effort by a Milwaukee alderman to ban guns within the security "footprint" of the Republican National Convention failed Friday in a Common Council committee.

Ald. Robert Bauman, who represents downtown, where the event will take place, sought the gun ban following revelations that a proposed ordinance would allow most firearms but prohibit typically innocuous items in the RNC security footprint, where the public and demonstrators will be able to come and go during the July 15-18 event.

He argued his constituents were concerned about guns in the area of the RNC and that a state law the City Attorney's Office said prevents local governments from instituting such a ban was not written with an event of the scale and tenor of the RNC in mind.

"No one could have contemplated when that statute was drafted and approved that there would be a national convention in Milwaukee with 30, 50,000 people and the potential for significant protest activity and the potential for a fair amount of violence and disorder," he said. "And, of course, adding guns to the mix is almost ludicrous when tennis balls are prohibited."

Bauman's proposal was taken up Friday at a special meeting of the Public Safety and Health Committee but failed to gain traction. Council President José G. Pérez and Alds. Sharlen Moore and Scott Spiker voted to reject the ban, while Ald. Peter Burgelis voted for it and Ald. Lamont Westmoreland abstained.

Spiker made the motion to deny Bauman’s proposed gun prohibition, saying it was clear that the measure would violate a state law that the city needed to follow. He also cited concerns that passing the ordinance would compel people who want to challenge the law to come to the RNC armed.

“It’s going to be cold comfort if we invite in people who are looking for a fight and something bad happens,” he said. “Then that blood will be on our hands.”

The committee voted unanimously to add to the list of banned items containers of human waste, flammable liquids and gas masks.

The file is expected to go before the Common Council on Tuesday.

City Attorney's Office says proposed ban on guns in RNC security footprint would not be legal

As written, the proposed ordinance would prohibit dozens of items, including air rifles, in the RNC security footprint while guns would be allowed except for machine guns, fully automatic weapons, short-barreled shotguns, and silencers, all of which are prohibited under state law, according to the City Attorney's Office.

Bauman proposed changing the proposed ordinance to also ban any firearm defined under state law as "a weapon that acts by force of gunpowder" and any firearm ammunition.

But the City Attorney's Office said that change would not be legal.

In a letter to the committee, City Attorney Evan Goyke wrote that Wisconsin law prevents the city and all local governments "from prohibiting the possession or carrying of legal firearms."

"The proposed ordinance in its current form exercises the extent of firearm regulation available to local governments," he wrote. "Should the ordinance be amended to go farther and prohibit firearm possession in parts of the City of Milwaukee outside the National Security Event area under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Secret Service, that ordinance would not be legal and enforceable."

Would banning guns during the RNC bring 'chaos to the city'?

A main concern among those opposed to the proposed change were possible challenges in the courts from gun advocacy groups.

Deputy City Attorney Mary Schanning said that challengers would likely seek a temporary restraining order, which could stop enforcement of just the gun provision or the entire ordinance itself. If the restraining order was against the entire ordinance, she said, it would stop the city from enforcing any restrictions in the security footprint.

Luke Knapp, policy manager in Mayor Cavalier Johnson's office, said if the city passed the gun ban, there was potential that it could embolden people to bring guns to the security footprint just to challenge the city's decision.

Pérez said that the new ordinance could bring “chaos to the city” with people wanting to prove their right to carry a firearm in the security perimeter.

Wisconsin allows open carry of guns, and state statute allows for concealed carry with a permit, both of which would be allowed in the security footprint, city officials said.

U.S. Secret Service officials on Thursday said weapons would not be allowed in the "hard" perimeter that will be established within the security footprint. The federal agency is not expecting to change the boundaries of the yet-to-be-announced hard perimeter, where credentials will be required to enter, as a result of the guns allowed just outside it.

Other committee members express concern about guns in Republican National Convention security footprint

Burgelis told the Journal Sentinel he voted for the gun ban because “some fights are worth fighting, and it’s worth challenging bad laws.”

“I think Ald. Bauman made a very strong case, a very compelling argument on why this will wreak havoc in our city,” he said. “And in the interest of public safety for the convention for a short period of time, I feel it would make sense to keep the safety of our city our top priority.”

Westmoreland did not reject the measure because he believes guns should not be allowed inside the security footprint. Though he abstained from the vote, after the meeting, he said that he "probably would have went no."

“I think there should be some type of screening process. If you want to conceal, whatever, fine, but we need to know you're legally able to conceal. I hate to say it but to me, this is a recipe for disaster," Westmoreland said after the hearing.

Alison Dirr can be reached at [email protected]. Tristan Hernandez can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee committee rejects proposed RNC security 'footprint' gun ban