New Richmond News
Wheeler News Service - 10/31/2007
At least 77 felons bought Wisconsin deer hunting licenses last
year even though it’s illegal for them to ever have guns
The actual number is probably a lot higher.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says only one in five hunters
allow their names to be released, which means the paper could only
check the criminal records of a relative few.
The Department of Natural Resources picks up few of those felons.
Only about 20 were caught last year.
At least 600 felons were documented to buy sporting licenses,
which may or may not involve the use of guns.
It’s not against the law for felons to get gun-deer licenses, but
it is a crime to use them.
Armed robbers and rapists were among those in the woods last
year, creating possible tension and maybe violence.
Rep. Terry Musser, R-Black River Falls, agrees. He says he’ll
introduce a bill next month to require criminal background checks
for the hundreds of thousands who buy deer licenses.
A similar effort failed six years ago when the DNR said it would
have cost a half-million dollars just to upgrade the necessary
computers.
Fair Use Notice: This document may contain copyrighted material
whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owners. We believe
that this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes
a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section
107 of the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted
material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must
obtain permission from the copyright owner.
