MADISON, Wis. — A new proposal circulating at the Wisconsin Capitol would treat college campuses like K-12 schools, making it a misdemeanor to carry a gun on campus.
The prohibition would include inside buildings on university campuses, as well as “the grounds of or land owned or occupied by a university or college.” The latter restriction would prohibit guns on a large footprint of downtown Madison — including University Hospital and the surrounding area, Eagle Heights and Picnic Point.
The bill, offered by Madison Democrats Sen. Kelda Roys and Rep. Shelia Stubbs, as well as Rep. Deb Andraca, D-Whitefish Bay, could be introduced at some point in February.
UWPD map of campus jurisdiction
Map of campus jurisdiction provided by UWPD.
“This generation of young people has grown up in the shadow of horrific gun violence. No other country in the world tolerates the level of gun deaths, and especially gun deaths among children that this country does,” Roys said in an interview with News 3 Now. “It is absolutely preventable. We can prevent it through smart public policy.”