Attempt to restrict guns from RNC security perimeter fails

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- An effort to restrict firearms in the security perimeter of the Republican National Convention (RNC) was shot down Friday.

While it has not been made official, local leaders have shared that there will be two zones of security around the convention. There will be a larger one, dubbed the "soft zone," that will be under local law enforcement -- subject to Wisconsin state laws -- and a smaller one that will be governed by the U.S. Secret Service, known as the "hard zone."

Inside the "hard zone," guns will be prohibited, but they will be allowed in the larger, "soft zone," where protests are expected to demonstrate during the convention.

While Wisconsin Statue 66.0409 prohibits local governments from banning guns, District 4 Ald. Bob Bauman still sponsored an ordinance to restrict them from the "soft zone."

"So, we're not defying the law, we're taking a good faith interpretation of the law, saying, 'We see what it says, but we don't believe it applies to this particular set of circumstances,'" Bauman said.

Bauman presented the ordinance during a special meeting of the Public Safety and Health Committee on Friday. He pushed for the committee to approve it even if it could have led to legal challenges down the line.

"We will be perceived and will be in reality fighting for the well-being of our citizens. Fighting for the public safety of our citizens, and if the court disagrees that’s on them, not us," Bauman explained.

However, others felt trying to ban firearms could incentivize more people to show up to the "soft zone" to exercise their Second Amendment rights.

"That might actually worsen a problem that we're trying to, in theory, prevent," District 13 Ald. Scott Spiker said.

"We might feel good. We might be able to, if I vote for this, I might be able to say, 'Hurrah I fought a good fight.' It's going to be cold comfort if we invite in people who are looking for a fight and then something bad happens. Then that blood will be on our hands."

Spiker said that while he thinks the ordinance is well-intentioned, it is simply out of the city of Milwaukee's legal scope.

"It's clear by the letter of the law it's illegal, and in general, governments shouldn't do illegal stuff," he explained. "To the extent we say we don't like a law, therefore we're not going to enforce it, that’s a dangerous precedent."

While this failed, the committee passed a separate ordinance restricting human waste, flammable liquids, and gas masks from the perimeter.