J.B. VAN HOLLEN
ATTORNEY GENERAL

HR 218

I am proud to be the first Wisconsin Attorney General to certify retired law enforcement officers with credentials to carry concealed weapons. By having the Department of Justice take the lead when it comes to providing our own retired law enforcement officers with a permit to carry a concealed firearm, it shows that we have the confidence in local law enforcement agencies’ ability to do this on their own. As I have traveled across the state, I have repeatedly heard from active and retired law enforcement officers who know their ability to protect public safety in a crisis situation does not end with his or her retirement.

On June 4 of this year, I issued the first such credential to Tom Steingraber, former Special Agent and Bureau Director in the Department’s Division of Criminal Investigation. Tom’ law enforcement career spanned some four decades. He qualified for the credential based on his experience, record of service, and his ability to meet the firearms qualifications that all DCI agents must pass today.

Since that seminal day in June, 14 other retired Wisconsin Department of Justice Special Agents have sought, and been given, the Department’s credential to carry concealed weapons.

The authority to grant these permits to carry concealed weapons to retired Department of Justice employees is granted to me by the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004, more commonly known as “HR 218”. This federal law establishes guidelines by which experienced retired law enforcement officers who maintain firearms training may obtain certification that would allow those officers to carry firearms of the type they used while on the force.

Under this same federal law, Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police have the authority to issue the permits for retired members of their individual law enforcement agency to carry concealed weapons. Among the requirements to qualify, a person needs to have 15 years of service as a law enforcement officer, pass an annual firearms certification and be honorably retired. The permit must be issued by the agency from which the law enforcement officer retired.

In the last session of the legislature I worked with State Representative Don Friske, himself a retired law enforcement officer, along with Wisconsin’s professional law enforcement organizations, to enact properly crafted legislation that would have benefitted efforts to further implement “HR 218” in all jurisdictions across the state. Former Sheriff Gary Hamblin, my Law Enforcement Services Administrator, and I worked tirelessly to allow for the enactment of this legislation designed to address the concerns of some local jurisdictions. Make no mistake, however, as my actions and that of many other jurisdictions across the state demonstrate, federal law currently does authorize employing law enforcement agencies to issue permits to their retired law enforcement officers who meet the statute’s criteria.

You can count on me to continue to do what my office allows in an effort to improve public safety and fight crime. My issuing of “HR218” permits to retired Wisconsin Department of Justice agents is allowed by law. I have issued the permits and I will continue to work to ensure more Wisconsin jurisdictions do the same.

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