Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed two bills on Wednesday making it easier to buy and carry guns in the state. Though the bills—one of which eliminates the 48-hour waiting period to buy a handgun—were passed by the state legislature before last week’s shooting in Charleston, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate’s signing of the gun laws injects Walker into the national dialogue on guns in America.
What impact Walker’s move will have remains to be seen. “Marquette Law School Poll director Charles Franklin said because the national focus of the Charleston shooting quickly shifted from guns to racism and efforts to remove the Confederate flag from in front of the South Carolina statehouse, Walker’s unlikely to face much scrutiny, pro or con, over the gun legislation,” the Wisconsin State Journal reports.
Along ending waiting periods, the legislation will allow off-duty and retired police officers to carry concealed weapons into public schools. “Sometimes I think that the current occupant in the White House forgets that when the president is sworn in he takes an oath to ‘preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,’” Walker said during the bill signing ceremony. “Well Mr. President, the Second Amendment is part of the constitution. You don’t get to pick and choose which part of the constitution you support. Preserving, protecting and defending it is not optional. It’s mandatory.”
