WHEREAS, gun violence is a public health crisis;
WHEREAS, access to a firearm triples one’s risk of death by suicide;
WHEREAS, of all state deaths by firearm from 2013-2017, 71 percent were suicide deaths;
WHEREAS, the presence of a gun in domestic violence situations increases the risk of homicide for women by 500 percent;
WHEREAS, since 2005, firearms have accounted for more domestic violence homicides than all other methods of killing combined;
WHEREAS, Wisconsinites have called on their elected leaders to take commonsense action on gun safety;
WHEREAS, under current law, someone attempting to purchase a firearm can circumvent the background check process by purchasing a firearm from an unlicensed seller;
WHEREAS, a majority of gun owners and Wisconsinites across our state agree that the process should be the same regardless of what type of firearm is being purchased and where it is being purchased;
WHEREAS, universal background checks can save lives, and they are fundamental for lowering rates of gun violence in our communities;
WHEREAS, existing state law requires individuals to surrender their firearms if they are subject to a domestic violence or child abuse injunction;
WHEREAS, an extreme risk protection order (ERPO) process would allow for the temporarily removal of firearms by an order of a judge if there is reason to believe an individual is at risk of harming themselves or others;
WHEREAS, an ERPO process would provide families and law enforcement with the tools to intervene so that those individuals can get the help of care that they need; and
WHEREAS, 80 percent of Wisconsinites support universal background checks and extreme risk protection orders;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, TONY EVERS, Governor of the State of Wisconsin, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution, and the Laws of the State, specifically Article IV, Section 11 and Article V, Section 4 of the Wisconsin Constitution, hereby require the convening of a special session of the Legislature at the Capitol in the City of Madison, to commence on 2:00 PM on November 7, 2019, solely to consider and act upon the following:
11.
LRB 4700/1 and 4721/1, legislation creating extreme risk protection temporary restraining orders and injunctions preventing individuals who are substantially likely to injure themselves or others from possessing firearms and providing a penalty for violating such extreme risk protection temporary restraining orders and injunctions; 22.
LRB 4698/1 and 4701/1, legislation creating a universal background check requirement for the sale or transfer of firearms and providing a penalty for the sale or transfer of firearms without conducting a background check; IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Wisconsin to be affixed. Done in the City of Milwaukee this twenty-first day of October, in the year two thousand nineteen.
TONY EVERS
Governor
By the Governor:
DOUGLAS LA FOLLETTE
Secretary of State
_____________
Adjournment
Senator Fitzgerald, with unanimous consent, asked that the November 2019 Special Session of the Senate stand adjourned pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1.
Adjourned.
7:57 P.M.
