Wisconsin Handgun laws as they relate to non residents

[Patriot86]

Hello there everyone.

I live in Illinois and have a valid FOID card.

My family has property in a rural area of Wisconsin and I was curious if under Wisconsin law "non residents" are permitted to transport handguns across state lines and possess them within the state of Wisconsin.
Moreover, how would they need to be legally transport(if legal at all) and how they need to be stored when "in the home" or on on private property. Part B of this question would be, does Wisconsin allow open or conceal carry on private property but not "inside" the physical home.





Normally there are several of my family members up there, with various different shotguns and rifles, so I am not as concerned about my safety and I choose to leave my handguns at home.
But this summer I plan to spend a few days up there alone fixing up our property.
On top of that a real genius must have drawn the township borders, because the Police agency responsible for responding to calls in our area is about 20 driving miles away (on the other side of a lake) and has responded in the past to trespassing calls in a lightening quick 1.5 hours time.


Any information is appreciated.

 

[wally626]

A couple of quick references

http://www.nraila.org/statelawpdfs/WISL.pdf

http://www.gunlaws.com/links/linkswi.htm

 

[Patriot86]

Thanks Wally!


Interesting though "It is unlawful to discharge a firearm while on the lands
of another within 100 yards of any building devoted to human
occupancy without the express permission of the owner or occupant.
“Building” does not include any tent, bus, truck, vehicle or similar
portable unit"


So I would assume that you are permitted to shoot on your own land, when not within 100 yards of an occupied structure.

I know for a fact the police have come out in because of my family members target shooting and threatened my Father and Brother in law under some law or another. We have quite a bit of land, the closest neighbors structure I would say is a good 1/4 mile from the main structure on our land. The closest structure to where we would typically target shoot is at least 1/2 a mile(NOT In the direction of firing) from the closest structure belonging to a neighbor. .This is in unincorporated Walworth County. What laws if any under Wisconsin law would we have been breaking by target shooting?

 

[WeedWacker]

So I would assume that you are permitted to shoot on your own land, when not within 100 yards of an occupied structure.

I beleive it is if you are on someone elses land. If you are on your land and there is a structure 99 yards away that is off your property, you should still be fine. My family owns land outside Holmen and we bring our guns and shoot all the time. Granted, we aren't shooting anywhere near other peoples houses, but reading what you posted makes me think the law more targets land owners rights and would be tacked on to treaspassing violations if necessary, kinda like how knife laws are veiwed out here in these parts. If it's a problem the law is a prosecution tool.

 

[wally626]

You quoted the NRA law summary, remember it is just a summary and you should check the law itself.


See http://legis.wisconsin.gov/rsb/stats.html search for 941.20. I can not get a direct link to stick, but this is the section that covers firearm discharges. 941.20(1)(d) Besides the not shooting within 100 yards of a dwelling on another's property part, they have a general restriction on unsafe use. 941.20(1)(a)

I looked over a few pages on firearms and it appears there are no restrictions on open carry on your own land, so you should be good to go on that, just keep it visible.

 

[Patriot86]

The laws are vague in some ways, but being from Illinois I am used to that. I do not see a law listed there that we could possibly be violating when target shooting. Then again like I said above
"(a) Endangers another’s safety by the negligent operation or
handling of a dangerous weapon" is pretty vague, though I would never consider anything I have done or seen done on my family's land to endanger anothers safety.

 

[Old Grump]

You can shoot within 100 yards of your own buildings and you can shoot within 100 yards of somebody else's building IF you have permission from the owner of the building.

It is unlawful to discharge a firearm while on the lands of another within 100 yards of any building devoted to human occupancy without the express permission of the owner or occupant. "Building" does not include any tent, bus, truck, vehicle or similar portable unit.

 

[WeedWacker]

You can shoot within 100 yards of your own buildings and you can shoot within 100 yards of somebody else's building IF you have permission from the owner of the building.

Only if you are shooting on that persons land. Stated in the law summary quoted:

It is unlawful to discharge a firearm while on the lands of another within 100 yards of any building devoted to human occupancy without the express permission of the owner or occupant.

So it is lawful to be shooting on your own land while within 100 yards of your neighbors land, unless there is a noise statute you would be violating.

So go shoot and have fun.

 

[Old Grump]

You can be leaning against the fence and still shoot legally on your own property as long as you are not within 100 yards of your neighbors buildings. He can shoot on your property with permission but not within 100 yards of your buildings unless you give him specific permission to do so.

ie. you two are out behind your barn target shooting at a tin can in a safe direction from your buildings your property and you approve so you are both legal. Same goes if you are on his land rabbit hunting and the two of you are in the door of his machine shed and you see a bunny 50 yards away but he says to take the shot. You are legal.

If he doesn't you can't shoot no matter how tempting a target it is.

Local zoning laws apply but in a unincorporated area outside of town, city or village limit you won't have a problem unless you have specific obstacles like a power sub station, refinery, train or road traffic, onto water surfaces, especially if there is boat traffic on it or your ricochet would go off your property. Just common sense behavior. Be safe, respect your neighbors and his property and you won't have any problems.