MADISON, Wis. — In the wake of the Abundant Life Christian School shooting in Madison this week, the question now is whether state lawmakers plan to address gun violence when they return to the floor next year.
Democrats plan to renew their push to prevent gun violence when the new session starts in January, not just because what happened this week hits close to home but because the latest shooting has become a national conversation.
“It’s really up to the Republicans if they are willing to take the hand that Democrats have been extending to them,” State Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, said. “I’m hopeful that Republicans, now that they see in Wisconsin, they can lose elections, that they will actually be responsive to what the majority of Wisconsinites are demanding, which is putting our kids, our kids’ lives, before guns.”
From safe storage to red flag laws, State Sen. Roys calls them “common sense measures.”
“We can prevent so many tragic deaths, not just shootings, but accidental firearm injury and death, and suicide if we pass these laws,” Roys explained. “Every time my kids go off to school, I always have a thought: what if? Parents do not forget this issue, and even when we push it in the back of our minds because we are going about our daily lives, this happens all the time in this country.”
Wisconsin Republicans have been reluctant to consider measures meant to curb gun violence. In November 2019, Republicans quickly dismissed a special session called by Democrat Gov. Tony Evers to consider universal background checks and red flag laws.
After Wisconsin had 10 mass shootings that killed 11 and injured 42 in 2020, Republicans were scrutinized for a lack of action the next year. During that time, Republicans instead made a push to make Wisconsin a 2nd Amendment sanctuary state.
Gun control efforts were renewed by Democrats again amid the COVID-19 pandemic, after the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas in 2022, and as recently as 2023.
“They’re doing fine. I think it’s going to be a little bit of time as they reflect back on what happened,” State Rep. Jerry O’Connor, R-Fond du Lac, whose great niece and nephew are students at Abundant Life Christian School, said.
During an interview with CNN, State Rep. O’Connor questioned the shooter’s alleged manifesto.
“That is something that we need to be looking at on the broad scale of how do you control messaging without controlling freedom of speech,” O’Connor added.
Regarding future policy, Republican Assembly Majority Leader Rep. Tyler August, R-Walworth, told Spectrum News it is too early to know and that the community needs time to process what happened.
“This is a minor who isn’t legally allowed to possess a firearm, let alone on school grounds, so there are laws in place, but we need to continue to look into ways that we can help someone [who] ends up doing such a horrific act,” August said. “There has got to be things we can do on the front end before it ever even comes to this.”
Last year, Democrats reintroduced legislation to expand background checks on firearm sales, create a so-called “red flag” law, and even offer a sales tax exemption for people who buy a new gun safe.
None of those proposals made it to the floor for a vote.
In 2023, as part of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022, signed by President Joe Biden, the Wisconsin Department of Justice received more than $4 million to fund efforts combatting gun violence.