In Virginia, I open carry all the time. In the summer its just too hot to conceal your sidearm with a coat or overshirt, and a plastic holster against your bare skin can be unbearable too. Open carry is pretty common and I've only ever been questioned about it once.

In Wisconsin, one of two states where concealed carry is strictly verboten, open carry is causing a panic. What's worse is that it is the police (who themselves carry openly) who are doing the panicking.

Police arrived up to investigate Krause while 12 News was interviewing him about his previous arrest for carrying a holstered gun on his hip outside his home. One officer saw Krause's gun and asked what agency he's affiliated with.

"I'm the same guy I was when you arrested me the last time," Krause said.

The officers asked for his name and called dispatch.

"The reason I'm checking is because felons can't have guns in Wisconsin," West Allis police said.

Krause is not a felon. He's a certified firearms instructor.

Just because you are carrying a sidearm, they assume you are up to no good.

"I'm totally opposed to it. I do not think we need more guns on the streets," state Rep. Leon Young said.

Young, a former Milwaukee police officer who represents part of Milwaukee's north side, said he's working on fast track legislation to clear up confusion with Wisconsin's gun law.

"If you're walking down the street with a gun in your hand and people can see it or you've got one in your holster here and people can see it, it's going to create a disturbance," Young said.

But until there's a new law, the officers explained to Krause, the attorney general's ruling is brand new to them and they'll act accordingly.

"How it was explained to us is that if somebody calls and makes a complaint -- in other words, they feel threatened -- they feel it's causing a disturbance or they feel that it's disorderly in some fashion. They call us and we respond and we investigate it," a West Allis police officer said.

The mere presence of a gun is considered a "disburbance". [emphasis mine]

The officers said in a different situation [without news cameras standing nearby] they would likely still order someone carrying a gun to the ground until they could make sure the situation is safe.

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said his memo was simply intended to "clarify" the law, and he does not believe more people will start openly carrying guns because of it.

Gov. Jim Doyle hopes it won't change how police officers respond when they see weapons.

"Our advice was people are permitted [permitted? whatever happened to government of, by, and for the people?] to openly carry firearms -- that it wasn't in and of itself disorderly conduct. We intentionally didn't go into any factual-based scenarios because they're all different," Van Hollen said.

"I assume that local DAs and local police departments are gonna continue to act as they already have," Doyle said.

Police Response

Milwaukee's police chief said he'll go on telling his officers to take down anyone with a firearm despite Van Hollen's finding that people can carry guns openly if they do it peacefully.

Chief Ed Flynn said officers can't assume people are carrying guns legally in a city that has seen nearly 200 homicides in the past two years.

[can't assume people are following the law]

He said that means officers seeing anybody carrying a gun will put them on the ground, take the gun away and then decide if the person has a right to carry it. [violate civil rights now, ask questions later]

Flynn said it's irresponsible to send a message that if someone carries a weapon openly, no one can bother them.

Milwaukee-area police chiefs have a monthly meeting on Wednesday, and they're expected to discuss this issue.

Shorewood Police Chief David Banaszynski is the leader of the state chief's association.

He said many departments are asking questions about how to deal with people openly carrying firearms.

He said it may end up being a community-by-community, case-by-case issue fraught with the potential for danger.

"Now, with open carry, which is legal, there may be no training. I could hand you my handgun, you could walk down the street carrying it with no training whatsoever. To me, there is a lot more danger now with people thinking, 'I have the right to carry it so I'm going to carry it, and not have the training,'" Banaszynski said.

Wisconsin should simply pass a concealed carry statute and avoid the kerfuffle altogether.

Below the fold are some images from the Tea Party yesterday in Reston Virginia.