If you are 16 to 18, you can open carry a rifle or shotgun, subject to a few other issues, but it can never be a short barreled rifle or shotgun. Rittenhouse's AR15 type was not short barreled.
There are 2 other applicable articles
29.304 applies only to those 14YO to 16YO, so does not apply to Rittenhouse
The 2nd one-----
29.593 Requirement for certificate of accomplishment to obtain hunting approval.Kyle was not hunting, so statute 29.539 does not apply.
Section 25 of the Wisconsin Code also applies, and only strengthen the right to keep and bear arms for any legal purpose, including 2A rights of peaceful protest.
I put that whole thing at the bottom.
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U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- One of the questions involving the Kyle Rittenhouse defensive engagements is if Kyle was forbidden from carrying an AR15 rifle, because he was at that time, four months short of his 18th birthday.
Writing about it, I mentioned Wisconsin statutes 948.60, which forbids the carry of dangerous weapons by people under the age of 18. The law has exceptions and cutouts and definitions which need to be taken into account.
The explanation of the law at ar15.com is very good. However, it can profitably be elaborated for those who do not read the law extensively.
Wisconsin Statute 948.60 regulates the possession of a dangerous weapon by persons under 18 years old. In paragraph (2) (a) it states:
(a) Any person under 18 years of age who possesses or goes armed with a dangerous weapon is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.Paragraph (3) lists exceptions. (3)(c) excludes most people who are under 18, except those in violation of 941.28 or 29.304 and 29.539.
(c) This section applies only to a person under 18 years of age who possesses or is armed with a rifle or a shotgun if the person is in violation of s. 941.28 or is not in compliance with ss. 29.304 and 29.593. This section applies only to an adult who transfers a firearm to a person under 18 years of age if the person under 18 years of age is not in compliance with ss. 29.304 and 29.593 or to an adult who is in violation of s. 941.28.Statute 948.60 only applies to a person under the age of 18 who are in violation of 941.28 or not in compliance with 29.304 and 29.593.
What does it take to be in violation of 941.28? Here is the statute:
(2) No person may sell or offer to sell, transport, purchase, possess or go armed with a short-barreled shotgun or short-barreled rifle.In the statute, short-barreled shotguns or short-barreled rifles are those which require a special license under the National Firearms Act. In general, those are rifles with a barrel less than 16 inches in length or shotguns with a barrel less than 18 inches in length, or either which have an overall length of less than 26 inches.
The rifle carried by Kyle Rittenhouse, as an ordinary AR15 type and does not fall into those categories, so Kyle was not violating 941.28.
Was Kyle in violation of Wisconsin statute 29.304 and statute 29.539? These statutes deal with hunting regulation and with people under the age of 16 carrying rifles and shotguns. First, statute 29.304:
29.304 Restrictions on hunting and use of firearms by persons under 16 years of age.Kyle is reported to be over 16 years old, so he was not violating statute 29.304.
(b) Restrictions on possession or control of a firearm. No person 14 years of age or older but under 16 years of age may have in his or her possession or control any firearm unless he or she:
How about statute 29.539?
29.593 Requirement for certificate of accomplishment to obtain hunting approval.Kyle was not hunting, so statute 29.539 does not apply.
To sum up: Wisconsin statutes 940.60 only forbid people under the age of 18 from possessing or carrying dangerous weapons in very limited cases. If a person is 16 years of age or older, the statute only applies to rifles and shotguns which are covered under the National Firearms Act as short-barreled rifles or shotguns. People who are hunting have to comply with the hunting regulations, and there are general restrictions for people under the age of 16.
While a casual reading of Wisconsin Statutes seems to indicate people under the age of 18 are forbidden from carrying rifles or shotguns, that is not the case under Wisconsin law, in general.
The general prohibition is for those under the age of 16. Kyle is reported to be more than 17 years old.
This is consistent with Wisconsin's Constitutional protection of the right to keep and bear arms, section 25. Wisconsin added the clear wording of Section 25 to the Wisconsin Constitution in 1998.
Text of Section 25:Kyle was legally able to exercise his right to keep and bear arms for security and defense, as protected by the Wisconsin Constitution. He was not forbidden by Wisconsin law from possessing or carrying a rifle because he was less than 18 years of age.
Right to Keep and Bear Arms
The people have the right to keep and bear arms for security, defense, hunting, recreation or any other lawful purpose.[1]
The law is clear if a bit convoluted. Lawyers are supposed to be experts at unwinding the convolutions of the law.
Kyle's defense team is correct. The criminal complaint against Kyle appears to have been rushed and ill-conceived.About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
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Right to keep and bear arms. Section 25. [As created Nov. 1998] The people have the right to keep and bear arms for security, defense, hunting, recreation or any other lawful purpose. [1995 J.R. 27, 1997 J.R. 21, vote Nov. 1998]
The state constitutional right to bear arms is fundamental, but it is
not absolute. This section does not affect the reasonable regulation of
guns. The standard of review for challenges to statutes allegedly in
violation of this section is whether the statute is a reasonable
exercise of police power. State v. Cole, 2003 WI 112, 264 Wis. 2d 520, 665 N.W.2d 328, 01-0350.
The concealed weapons statute is a restriction on the manner in which
firearms are possessed and used. It is constitutional under Art. I, s.
25. Only if the public benefit in the exercise of the police power is
substantially outweighed by an individual's need to conceal a weapon in
the exercise of the right to bear arms will an otherwise valid
restriction on that right be unconstitutional. The right to keep and
bear arms for security, as a general matter, must permit a person to
possess, carry, and sometimes conceal arms to maintain the security of a
private residence or privately operated business, and to safely move
and store weapons within those premises. State v. Hamdan, 2003 WI 113, 264 Wis. 2d 433, 665 N.W.2d 785, 01-0056.
A challenge on constitutional grounds of a prosecution for carrying a
concealed weapon requires affirmative answers to the following before
the defendant may raise the constitutional defense: 1) under the
circumstances, did the defendant's interest in concealing the weapon to
facilitate exercise of his or her right to keep and bear arms
substantially outweigh the state's interest in enforcing the concealed
weapons statute? and 2) did the defendant conceal his or her weapon
because concealment was the only reasonable means under the
circumstances to exercise his or her right to bear arms? State v.
Hamdan, 2003 WI 113, 264 Wis. 2d 433, 665 N.W.2d 785, 01-0056.
Under both Hamdan and Cole
there are 2 places in which a citizen's desire to exercise the right to
keep and bear arms for purposes of security is at its apex: in the
citizen's home or in his or her privately-owned business. It logically
and necessarily follows that the individual's interest in the right to
bear arms for purposes of security will not, as a general matter, be
particularly strong outside those two locations. An individual
generally has no heightened interest in his or her right to bear arms
for security while in a vehicle. State v. Fisher, 2006 WI 44, 290 Wis. 2d 121, 714 N.W.2d 495, 04-2989.
The ban on felons possessing firearms is constitutional and that ban
extends to all felons, including nonviolent ones. The governmental
objective of public safety is an important one, and the legislature's
decision to deprive a nonviolent felon, such as the plaintiff, of the
right to possess a firearm is substantially related to this goal. State
v. Pocian, 2012 WI App 58, 341 Wis. 2d 380, 814 N.W.2d 894, 11-1035.
The most natural reading of “keep arms" in the 2nd amendment is to have
weapons. The natural meaning of “bear arms" is to “wear, bear, or carry
. . . upon the person or in the clothing or in a pocket, for the
purpose . . . of being armed and ready for offensive or defensive action
in a case of conflict with another person." Putting all textual
elements together, the 2nd amendment guarantees the individual right to
possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation. However, like most
rights, the right secured by the 2nd amendment is not unlimited.
District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 171 L. Ed. 2d 637, 128 S. Ct. 2783, (2008).
The 2nd amendment right to bear arms,
is fully applicable to the states. The due process clause of the 14th
amendment incorporates the 2nd amendment right recognized in Heller. However, incorporation does not imperil every law regulating firearms. McDonald v. Chicago, 561 U.S. 742, 130 S. Ct. 3020, 177 L. Ed. 2d 894 (2010).
The Next Big Gun Case: The Resurrection of the Second Amendment at the New Roberts Court. Ciocchetti. 102 MLR 309 (2018).
Out of the Home and in Plain Sight: Our Evolving Second Amendment and Open Carry in Wisconsin. Duroni. 102 MLR 1305 (2019).
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