Wisconsin State Law Library

The United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) is the federal agency that oversees regulation of firearms. In Wisconsin, the Department of Justice, Department of Corrections, Department of Safety and Professional Services, and the Department of Natural Resources all have some part in firearm regulation and research. The Wisconsin Legislative Council created an information memorandum in 2022 that summarizes firearm regulation in Wisconsin.

Popular questions

How do I find requirements for storing firearms in the home?

Wisconsin Statute 948.55 provides penalties for leaving or storing a loaded firearm within the reach or easy access of a child. You can find more statutes about firearms in the Wisconsin Statutes index. You can find articles and guides online about safe firearm storage, or research cases which may examine the issue. Use the laws research links below to start your research.

Where can I find laws about tasers in Wisconsin?

Wisconsin Statute 941.295 defines "electric weapons." Subchapter III of chapter 941 deals with laws about weapons. Use the laws research links below to start your research.

Laws

• WI Constitution: Art. 1 sec. 25 "Right to Keep and Bear Arms"
• WI Statutes: s. 66.0409 "Local Regulation of Firearms"
• WI Statutes: s. 167.31 "Safe Use and Transportation of Firearms and Bows"
• WI Statutes: s. 175.30 "Purchase of Firearms in Other States Permitted"
• WI Statutes: s. 175.35 "Purchase of Handguns"
• WI Statutes: s. 175.37 "Warning Whenever Transferring a Firearm"
• WI Statutes: s. 175.60 "License to carry a concealed weapon"
• WI Statutes: s. 813.12 (4m) Domestic Abuse "Notice of Restriction on Firearm Possession; Surrender of Firearms"
• WI Statutes: s. 813.125(4m) "Restriction on Firearm Possession; Surrender of Firearms"
• WI Statutes: s. 938.341 "Delinquency Adjudication; Restriction on Firearm Possession"
• WI Statutes: s. 941.20 - 941.299 "Crimes Against Public Health and Safety: Weapons"
• WI Statutes: s. 941.29 "Possession of a Firearm"
• WI Statutes: s. 948.60 "Possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18"
• WI Statutes: s. 973.176(1) "Notice of Restrictions: Firearm Possession"
• WI Statutes: "Firearms" index listing
• WI Admin. Code: Jus 10 "Handgun transfers"
• WI Admin. Code: Jus 17 "Licenses to carry concealed weapons"
• WI Admin. Code: "Firearms" index listing
• U.S. Constitution: 2nd Amendment
• U.S. Code: 18 USC 1715 "Firearms as Nonmailable. "
• U.S. Code: 18 USC 921-930 "Firearms"
• U.S. Code: 22 USC 2778 "Control of Arms Exports and Imports"
• U.S. Code: 26 USC 5801-5872 "Machine Guns, Destructive Devices, and Certain Other Firearms"

Forms

• Concealed Weapon Application(WI Dept. of Justice)
• Petition for Return of Property(Milwaukee Circuit Court)
  A petition for the return of property from an agency or other entity for property seized and held.
• WI Court forms related to firearms
  Includes Petition to Return Firearm(s), Petition for Removal of Firearm Restriction, Order Concerning Return of Firearms, Notice of Firearms Possession Penalties, etc

County resources

• Petition for Return of Property(Milwaukee Circuit Court)
  A petition for the return of property from an agency or other entity for the return of property seized and held.

Research links

Agencies

• ATF Online: Firearms & Law Enforcement
• FBI: National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NCIS)
• WI Dept. of Justice Firearms Unit

Firearms

• Top 10 Questions about Firearms(US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives)
• Firearms Questions and Answers(US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives)
• Firearm regulation in Wisconsin(WI Legislative Council, 2022)
• Gun Control Legislation(Congressional Research Service)
• Guns on Campus: Overview(NCSL)
• Gun Regulation and Legislation in America (HeinOnline)
• Open Carry Of Firearms And Wisconsin’s Disorderly Conduct Statute, Wis. Stat. § 947.01: Advisory Memorandum(WI Dept. of Justice)
• Prohibited persons(US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives)
• "Red Flag" laws and firearm possession(WI Legislative Council)
• State Gun Control Laws(HeinOnline)

Concealed Carry / Concealed Weapons

• Concealed Carry(WI Dept. of Justice)
  Links to act, rules implementing the law, training requirements, reciprocity with other states, forms, and FAQs.
• Concealed Carry and Hunting(WI Dept. of Natural Resources)
• Concealed Weapons Licensure and Handgun Purchaser Background Checks(WI Legislative Fiscal Bureau)
• WI Statutes: s. 175.60 "License to carry a concealed weapon"
• WI Admin. Code: Jus 17 "Licenses to carry concealed weapons"

Domestic Violence & Surrender of Firearms

• WI Prosecutor's Domestic Abuse Reference Book(WI Dept. of Justice)
• Misdemeanor crime of domestic violence(US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives)

Surrender of Firearms

• Offender Handbook: Hunting & Firearm Possession FAQ(WI Dept. of Corrections)
• WI Statutes: s. 813.125(4m) "Restriction on Firearm Possession; Surrender of Firearms"
• WI Statutes: s. 938.341 "Delinquency Adjudication; Restriction on Firearm Possession"
• WI Statutes: s. 941.29 "Possession of a Firearm"
• WI Statutes: s. 973.176(1) "Notice of Restrictions: Firearm Possession"

Hunting

• Hunting Regulations(WI Dept. of Natural Resources)
• Concealed Carry and Hunting(WI Dept. of Natural Resources)

Knives and Blades

• Knives Out: Regulating Blades in Wisconsin(State Bar of Wisconsin InsideTrack, 2021)
• WI Statutes: s. 941.231 "Carrying a concealed knife"

Other Weapons

• Regulating less-than-lethal weapons(Wisconsin Lawyer, vol. 95, no. 7)

Library books & articles

Wisconsin Books

• Carrying and possessing firearms in Wisconsin
  KFW2418 .L43 2011-2012 and view in Wisconsin Digital Archives
• Firearm regulation in Wisconsin
  KFW2418 .L43 2017-2018 IM 18-02 and view in Wisconsin Digital Archives
• Gun law in Wisconsin
  KFW2779.A75 G86 2016

Books

• Essential Supreme Court decisions : summaries of leading cases in U.S. constitutional law
  KF4547.4 .V55 2018
• Firearms Law Deskbook
  KF 3941 .H348
• Gun control on trial : inside the Supreme Court battle over the Second Amendment
  KF3941 .D64 2008

Law Review Articles

• § 24:492.Carrying concealed weapons—Effect of state law
  7A McQuillin Mun. Corp. § 24:492 (3d ed.)
• Construction and Application of State Statutes and Local Ordinances Regulating Licenses or Permits to Carry Concealed Weapons
  12 A.L.R.7th Art. 4 (Originally published in 2016)
• Court Says Transporting a Gun in a Glove Box without a Concealed Carry License was Illegal
  Wisbar News, April 11, 2018
• District of Columbia v. Heller: the Individual Right to Bear Arms
  Harvard L. Rev. 122:1 (Nov 2008)
• Frequent questions arising under Wisconsin's concealed carry law
  106 The Municipality 12 (December 2011)
• Gun Control and the Color of the Law
  37 Law & Ineq. 387 (2019)
• Gun Regulation the Police Power and the Right to Keep Arms in Early America
  Law & History Review 25:1 (Spring 2007)
• Out of the Home and in Plain Sight: Our Evolving Second Amendment and Open Carry in Wisconsin
  102 Marq. L. Rev. 1305 (2019)
• Second Amendment and the Supreme Court
  Georgetown Jnl of Law & Public Policy 6:2 (Summer 2008)
• Right to carry a concealed weapon
  50 State Statutory Surveys (Available in Westlaw)
• The Bear Necessities: Good Cause Statutes and "Step Zero" of Second Amendment Analyses
  80 Ohio St. L.J. 159 (2019)
• Validity, Construction, and Application of State Laws Allowing or Proscribing Openly Carrying Firearms
  25 A.L.R.7th Art. 5 (Originally published in 2017)
• Wisconsin's concealed carry law
  85 Wisconsin Lawyer 7 (2012)
• Wisconsin's concealed carry law
  The Municipality, October 2011