Friday, Oct. 28, 2022
Are guns allowed at some polling places in Wisconsin?
Guns are allowed at some polling places in Wisconsin, depending on the voting location, Attorney General Josh Kaul told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. While guns are universally banned at schools — where many polling places in the state are located — there is no statewide law preventing the possession of guns in polling places.
However, private or government buildings may post "no weapons" signs that would apply to polling places on their premises, according to a 2020 memo by Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe.
Regardless of where the polling place is, however, no one may brandish a gun or use it to intimidate voters. State law allows election inspectors to call law enforcement to remove anyone who is "disorderly in the presence or hearing of the inspectors" or "interrupts or disturbs the proceedings."
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Can people bring guns to the polls? In Wisconsin, it depends where you vote.
- State of Wisconsin Summary memo of Wisconsin weapons/physical security laws and applicability to polling places
- Wisconsin State Legislature Wisconsin Legislature: 7.37(2)
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Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.
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