Here is another story about someone from Wisconsin.  Apparently open carry is legal there and a graduate student was exercising his rights to do so.  A call went out to the police who then proceeded to arrest him and charged him with disorderly conduct.  This may be a good step for Wisconsin's rights as they don't have concealed carry but do have open carry.

http://www.wkowtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=10879014

MADISON (WKOW) -- A UW-Madison graduate student says he will fight a ticket he received last weekend after walking through the downtown area carrying a gun in broad daylight.

Travis Yates asked us not to show his face, but agreed to show the gun that got him ticketed.

"It's just your typical run of the mill handgun that most people would want to buy for self defense," he said of the .9 semiautomatic weapon. "I always try to keep the shirt off of it so it doesn't conceal it."

It was like that on his right hip when he walked about a dozen blocks early Saturday evening from his home east of the Capitol to halfway down State Street. Yates said he never took it out of the holster, but someone called police.

An arriving officer handcuffed him, then took him back to his home and eventually cited him with disorderly conduct.

Yates called his protest proof that Wisconsin's ban against concealed carry creates a Catch-22.

"If I were concealing it in my backpack, nobody would have seen it, but then it's concealed," he said. "You're damned if you do, damned if you don't."

"We can't just theoretically have the right to defend ourselves," he added. "It has to be an actual right, people have to do it."

This walk through Wisconsin's gun laws comes three months after Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen issued an advisory to the state's district attorneys, asking them to consider circumstances before charging someone who openly carries with disorderly conduct. That memorandum was issued following an incident in West Allis in February in which a homeowner was charged after a neighbor saw him walking on his lawn with a gun in plain view.

Madison Police Captain Victor Wahl wrote in a internal newsletter this spring that police procedures likely won't change, and that "the location of the incident, the behavior of the suspect and the reactions of the witnesses will all be relevant to this determination."

People downtown on Monday were mixed on how they would react.

"I'd still be concerned if it wasn't law enforcement because what happens if I accidentally bump into him," said Chris Dwight, who was visiting from Seattle. "What's the reaction going to be?"

UW-Whitewater sophomore Matt Seefeldt said it would depend on how the person was acting with the weapon. "If he was waving it around I would call, but if it was on his hip, I would still be worried, but I wouldn't freak out that much about it."

"It's not my fault that somebody gets scared by me exercising my rights," said Yates. "I don't know if they're honestly scared. I don't know if they honestly felt like something bad was going to happen."

Yates said he understands if someone calls his actions in, but would like dispatchers or police to ask more questions about why that person is openly carrying a gun before handcuffing and ticketing them with disorderly conduct. He said he spent months studying Wisconsin's gun laws before deciding to make his protest. In fact, he had a copy of them in his pocket to show the responding officer.

Madison city attorney Michael May declined comment on this case at this time.

Yates' court date is set for September. He faces a $429 fine.

Email Carl Agnelly at cagnelly@wkowtv.com

Follow Carl Agnelly on Twitter.

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MADISON (WKOW) -- A Madison man plans to fight a disorderly conduct citation he received while openly carrying a loaded gun in full view holstered on his right hip through the downtown area.

UW-Madison graduate student Travis Yates, 28, walked about a dozen blocks on Saturday from his near eastside home to the 300 block of State Street before a police officer handcuffed him.

According to a police spokesperson, Yates' actions were disturbing people in the area.

Yates told 27 News he acted after spending months researching state and local laws about gun ownership.

Wisconsin and Illinois are the only two states that completely ban concealed carry of a gun.  Yates said while the gun was loaded, there was not a bullet in the chamber, and his actions were to prove a point about how difficult it is to openly carry a gun in Wisconsin.

"It's a Catch-22," Yates said.  "You have the right to do it, but they'll catch you for something else."

He added, "My right can't just be theoretical, it can't be theoretical that we have the right to open carry."

Yates was briefly handcuffed before the officer took him home and wrote the disorderly conduct citation.  He has a court date set in September.  The listed fine was $429.

In February, a West Allis man was charged with disorderly conduct after openly carrying a gun on his front yard.  A neighbor complained, resulting in the citation in that case.  A judge later found him not guilty.

Two months later, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen wrote an advisory referendum to the state's district attorneys asking them to consider circumstances before making disorderly conduct charges in cases like this.

In the incident from Saturday, the misdemeanor citation was on the municipal level.  Madison city attorney Michael May said it would be inappropriate at this time to comment on the case.

After Van Hollen's memo, Madison Police Captain Victor Wahl wrote a newsletter brief advising that the Attorney General was only making a recommendation that likely won't change police procedures.

In the newsletter, Wahl wrote: "To support a disorderly conduct charge it will be necessary to show that the carrying of the firearm -- under those particular circumstances -- was the type of behavior that caused, or tends to cause, a disturbance.  The location of the incident, the behavior of the suspect and the reactions of witnesses will all be relevant (sic) to this determination."

Carl Agnelly spoke with Travis Yates Monday evening and will have a full report on this on 27 News at 10 p.m.

Email Carl Agnelly at cagnelly@wkowtv.com

Follow Carl Agnelly on Twitter.

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MADISON (WKOW) -- What began as a political statement turned into a disorderly conduct citation in Madison over the weekend.

Around 5:15 p.m. on Saturday, a concerned citizen called police to report a man walking toward State Street with a holstered gun on his hip.

Officers tracked him down on S. Carroll St. where he told them he was making a political statement about the rights of citizens to openly carry firearms.

But police cited him for disorderly conduct because of the fact his actions were disturbing other citizens. An officer drove the man to his home to he could put the gun away.

It appears that the open carry prohibition was just repealed.

http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Read.aspx?ID=5095

On Tuesday, August 4, the City Council of De Pere repealed the city’s prohibition on the open carrying of handguns. 

NRA is very pleased with the actions of the City Council, and especially Mayor Michael Walsh, who cast the deciding vote to enact the ordinance.  De Pere is one of the first cities in Wisconsin to repeal an existing prohibition on open carry in response to Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen’s (R) opinion clarifying that open carry is legal in Wisconsin. 

Other cities are currently reviewing city code.  The City of Pewaukee has loosened its restrictions to bring its code in line with the Attorney General’s opinion.  NRA is hopeful that this will prompt other cities in the Badger State to follow suit and recognize the right of residents to carry handguns for self-defense.