Democrats in Wisconsin are criticizing Republican congressman and gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany over his comments about carrying a concealed firearm at protests, while ignoring their own recent efforts to restrict the right to carry and implement more restrictive gun laws across the state.
In the wake of the shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis, Tiffany was asked a news conference about whether peaceable gun owners should be able to carry at protests. The congressman answered in the affirmative, but added that "when you're going into a situation like that, be sure to think about the ramifications of that."
Badger State Democrats have pounced on those comments, with one official declaring that Tiffany was trying to justify Pretti's death.
"I never thought the day would come when a Republican president, a Republican candidate for governor, and Republican candidates for Congress would try to take that right away from me in order to justify the murder of an American citizen," Wayde Lawler, chairman of the Vernon County Democratic Party, said at the news conference of the right to carry firearms. Lawler said he is a hunter and a gun owner.
I don't think Tiffany's comments were an attempt to justify Pretti's death, though he could have stopped at "Yes, people have the right to carry at a protest."
But if Wisconsin Democrats want to talk about the Second Amendment and their record on the right to keep and bear arms, I think Tiffany should lean in and point out all of the gun control bills that have been introduced in Madison in recent years.
In 2025, for instance, Democrats introduced a bill that would have banned concealed carry at all public colleges and universities in the state, even though many state-funded institutions of higher learning like the University of Wisconsin already prohibit the practice.
Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) and Rep. Brienne Brown (D-Whitewater) said during a press conference Wednesday that the bill would help protect students at a time when schools continue to be targets of gun violence.
Roys said the bill will be circulating for cosponsorship, but seemed to doubt Republicans would support the proposal.
“Republicans have been pretty reticent to sign on to gun safety regulation,” Roys said, adding that gun control measures are supported by an array of voters.
If carrying at a protest is supposedly okay with Wisconsin Democrats, then why do they favor banning concealed carry on college and university campuses... which are, after all, home to plenty of protests?
Wisconsin Democrats have also tried to impose waiting periods on gun buyers, storage mandates on gun owners, a "red flag" law allowing gun confiscations without due process, "universal" background checks, and other anti-2A legislation in the past few sessions. If I were Tiffany or his campaign manager, I'd be bringing up those efforts at every opportunity.
What exactly does the Second Amendment protect, according to these Democrats? Based on their recent comments (if not their legislative history), it encompasses carrying a concealed firearm at a protest, at least if you possess a concealed carry permit. What about openly carrying a handgun? What about carrying a long gun?
Does it protect the purchase and possession of commonly owned arms like the AR-15, or commonly owned ammunition magazines that can hold more than ten rounds? Does it protect the right to carry in public parks and on public transportation? Does it allow for arbitrary waiting periods to be imposed on those purchasing firearms? Does it allow for permitting fees that run into the hundreds of dollars, and draconian training mandates before someone can so much as keep a gun in their home? And does it allow for storage laws requiring gun owners to keep their firearms under lock and key and unloaded unless they're being carried on their person, even in their own home?
To one degree or another Wisconsin Democrats have embraced every one of those restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms. If they want to make Tiffany's comments a campaign issue, then Tiffany needs to throw each of these proposals back in their face. Democrats are cosplaying as Second Amendment supporters at the moment, but their words aren't backed up by action, and they're entirely at odds with their legislative agenda at the state and federal level.
