MILWAUKEE – Today the County Board of Supervisors adopted (12-5) a proposal by Supervisor Dyango Zerpa which would ask voters if they support the State Legislature banning the “import, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of semi-automatic ‘military-style’ firearms whose prohibition is allowed under the Wisconsin and United States Constitutions?”
“This referendum gives voters a platform to say enough is enough when it comes to gun violence in this country,” said Supervisor Zerpa. “As a nation, and as a state, we have witnessed far too many tragedies unfold in which the gunman responsible is using an assault weapon to inflict harm on innocent people and children. I am confident that this data will show that the people want common sense gun reform. We will take the data from this referendum directly to State Legislature and will use it to propel change.”
According to the Institute for Health Metrics Evaluation, the U.S. has the eighth highest level of gun violence in a study of 64 other high-income countries.
This legislation follows the recent mass shootings at the elementary school in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 children and two teachers dead, and at the grocery store in Buffalo, New York that targeted Black Americans and killed 10 people. In both cases, an AR-15-style assault rifle was used.
