BROOKFIELD, Wis --
A Milwaukee woman who bought her first gun less than a year ago said she wears weapons in public for protection.
“I’m getting older and slower and crooks are getting meaner,” said the woman who asked not to be identified.
The woman wore her 9 millimeter Glock handgun on her right hip to the Unitarian Universalist Church West on Sunday.
“I’m not dangerous. I wasn’t acting dangerous; I wasn’t acting any different from anyone else,” she said.
But many members of the church, whose slogan is "help create peace", felt differently.
“I just thought it was really terrible to frighten people. It’s just so uncalled for,” said Caryl Sewell.
Sewell, president of the church’s board of trustees, said after the service they called the Brookfield Police non emergency number and told them the woman brought a gun to church.
“We don’t want weapons in our church,” Sewell said.
The woman said police pulled her over as she was leaving the church parking lot.
“Being held at gunpoint by a bunch of nervous police is a very scary thing,” the woman said.
The woman was cited for transporting a loaded weapon, an allegation she plans to fight.
The incident highlights the bigger battle brewing over the ability to openly carry a gun in Wisconsin.
“I hope more people will realize that, as the attorney general says, openly carrying a weapon is legal,” the woman said.
Sewell said the church is not against open carry, just not inside the church.
“A church is a safe haven. You don’t bring guns into the sanctuary. That’s just over the top,” Sewell said.
A Milwaukee woman who bought her first gun less than a year ago said she wears weapons in public for protection.
“I’m getting older and slower and crooks are getting meaner,” said the woman who asked not to be identified.
The woman wore her 9 millimeter Glock handgun on her right hip to the Unitarian Universalist Church West on Sunday.
“I’m not dangerous. I wasn’t acting dangerous; I wasn’t acting any different from anyone else,” she said.
But many members of the church, whose slogan is "help create peace", felt differently.
“I just thought it was really terrible to frighten people. It’s just so uncalled for,” said Caryl Sewell.
Sewell, president of the church’s board of trustees, said after the service they called the Brookfield Police non emergency number and told them the woman brought a gun to church.
“We don’t want weapons in our church,” Sewell said.
The woman said police pulled her over as she was leaving the church parking lot.
“Being held at gunpoint by a bunch of nervous police is a very scary thing,” the woman said.
The woman was cited for transporting a loaded weapon, an allegation she plans to fight.
The incident highlights the bigger battle brewing over the ability to openly carry a gun in Wisconsin.
“I hope more people will realize that, as the attorney general says, openly carrying a weapon is legal,” the woman said.
Sewell said the church is not against open carry, just not inside the church.
“A church is a safe haven. You don’t bring guns into the sanctuary. That’s just over the top,” Sewell said.
We need to be able to carry weapons A N Y W H E R E a criminal would carry his or hers. We don't need any laws telling us when and where because as we are all already acutely aware, criminals do NOT obey laws, especially any laws that would require disarming themselves. I mean really, who dreams this crap up?
