Did the Wisconsin Supreme Court rule that people with misdemeanor convictions involving domestic abuse can get concealed carry gun permits?
In May 2022, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in Doubeck v. Kaul that people with misdemeanor disorderly conduct convictions can obtain concealed carry gun permits — even when the incidents involve domestic violence.
According to federal law, people convicted of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” are not allowed to possess a gun. In intrepreting this statute, the Wisconsin Supreme Court found that a disorderly conduct conviction in Wisconsin is not equivalent since there are non-violent types of disorderly conduct. State law defines it as “violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, unreasonably loud or otherwise disorderly conduct in which the conduct tends to cause or provoke a disturbance."
The court's ruling was unanimous, but in a concurring opinion, liberal Justice Jill Karofsky urged the Wisconsin State Legislature to close what she called a "dangerous loophole" in the state law that produced the case.
