Help me understand this piece of legislation

Factual Questions
1

I am reading a piece of Wisconsin legislation and i am trying to understand one of the exceptions. it is section 3(c) i am having trouble with. This refers to section s. 941.28 which is about short barrel rifles (SBR) and shotguns (SBS). Is it the intent of this exception such that no offence is committed if the weapon is not a SBR or SBS? Or is the intention that the exceptions do not apply if the weapon is a SBR or SBS?

Link to legislation 948.60

948.60 Possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18.

(1) In this section, “dangerous weapon" means any firearm, loaded or unloaded; any electric weapon, as defined in s. 941.295 (1c) (a); metallic knuckles or knuckles of any substance which could be put to the same use with the same or similar effect as metallic knuckles; a nunchaku or any similar weapon consisting of 2 sticks of wood, plastic or metal connected at one end by a length of rope, chain, wire or leather; a cestus or similar material weighted with metal or other substance and worn on the hand; a shuriken or any similar pointed star-like object intended to injure a person when thrown; or a manrikigusari or similar length of chain having weighted ends.

(2)

(a) Any person under 18 years of age who possesses or goes armed with a dangerous weapon is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.

(b) Except as provided in par. (c), any person who intentionally sells, loans or gives a dangerous weapon to a person under 18 years of age is guilty of a Class I felony.

(c) Whoever violates par. (b) is guilty of a Class H felony if the person under 18 years of age under par. (b) discharges the firearm and the discharge causes death to himself, herself or another.

(d) A person under 17 years of age who has violated this subsection is subject to the provisions of ch. 938 unless jurisdiction is waived under s. 938.18 or the person is subject to the jurisdiction of a court of criminal jurisdiction under s. 938.183.

(3)

(a) This section does not apply to a person under 18 years of age who possesses or is armed with a dangerous weapon when the dangerous weapon is being used in target practice under the supervision of an adult or in a course of instruction in the traditional and proper use of the dangerous weapon under the supervision of an adult. This section does not apply to an adult who transfers a dangerous weapon to a person under 18 years of age for use only in target practice under the adult’s supervision or in a course of instruction in the traditional and proper use of the dangerous weapon under the adult’s supervision.

(b) This section does not apply to a person under 18 years of age who is a member of the armed forces or national guard and who possesses or is armed with a dangerous weapon in the line of duty. This section does not apply to an adult who is a member of the armed forces or national guard and who transfers a dangerous weapon to a person under 18 years of age in the line of duty.

(c) This section applies only to a person under 18 years of age who possesses or is armed with a rifle or a shotgun if the person is in violation of s. 941.28 or is not in compliance with ss. 29.304 and 29.593. This section applies only to an adult who transfers a firearm to a person under 18 years of age if the person under 18 years of age is not in compliance with ss. 29.304 and 29.593 or to an adult who is in violation of s. 941.28.

2

The way I’m reading it, is that someone under the age of 18 is allowed to posses firearms and all the other weapons listed at he beginning of the code you posted, period.
Except in the case that they are being trained under the supervision of an adult, they’re in the armed forces or they’re hunting with a long gun. The last section says that this rule DOES apply towards rifles and shot guns that have full length barrels.

Hunting is a big part of the culture in Wisconsin (as I’m sure it is in other states as well). Kids can legally go out hunting at a very young age, even on their own (10? 12?). Without those exceptions for long guns, minors wouldn’t be allowed to go hunting (at least WRT actually shooting the gun). These exceptions appear to be meant to preserve that.

“Is it the intent of this exception such that no offence is committed if the weapon is not a SBR or SBS? Or is the intention that the exceptions do not apply if the weapon is a SBR or SBS?”
It’s saying that this code does not apply to minors with rifles or shotguns as long as those rifles or shotguns are not short barreled.

TLDR: As far as this chunk of code is concerned, minors can’t have any type of weapon except long guns.

3

And this is why legislators must all be required to take an English class.

IANAL but that is terribly written and when the laws are taken as a whole, inconsistent. If they are going to make exceptions for certain types of weapons those exceptions should be explicit in para. 1. As a layman I can’t tell what their intent was. In particular the placement of the word “only” in 3c. may have resulted in other than the intended meaning.

4

The relevant sentence here is: " This section applies only to a person under 18 years of age who possesses or is armed with a rifle or a shotgun if the person is in violation of [the short-barrel statute] or is not in compliance with [certain hunting laws]."

I agree that the placement of the word “only” is odd, but I think the reading of this is that the possession of a rifle or shotgun by a minor is not a violation of this statute unless the rifle/shotgun is itself illegal or the minor is violating the hunting laws.

The statute, as a whole, declares a general prohibition (on a large class of items) and then carves out three exceptions: (1) target practice; (2) military service; and (3) rifle/shotguns (unless otherwise in violation of certain laws).

A quick search didn’t reveal any court decisions interpreting the provision, but I found one commentator who reads it as limited to “hunting”. That is, that possession of a shotgun or rifle while hunting is excepted, unless you violate one of the other provisions. That would make some sense given that the next sentence exempts any “adult who transfers a firearm” (defined broadly) unless the minor violates the hunting laws and that can’t be right if taken more generally.

5

ISTM that the intention of section 3© is that ‘Possession of dangerous weapon by a person under 18’ ONLY applies to rifles and shotguns IF:

1)The rifle or shotgun is a SBR/SBS, OR
2) The person is 16 or younger and doesn’t meet some hunting requirements, OR
3) The person is under 18 but doesn’t meet requirements for approval authorizing hunting.

On the whole, the intent seems to be to carve out an exception for the possession of rifles and shotguns by persons under 18 (subject to further restrictions). So any firearm that isn’t a rifle or shotgun, or is a SBR or SBS, falls under 948.60. The legislature wants minors to be able to learn to hunt and go hunting, so gun possession and usage is OK under restrictions that scale with age. They still don’t want minors carrying handguns or tasers for self-defense, though.

So, hypothetically, a 17 year old, carrying a rifle that isn’t less than 16 inches measured from closed breech or bolt face to muzzle or having an overall length of less than 26 inches, who is merely eligible to obtain an approval authorizing hunting (say by completing a hunter education course in another state) does not fall under 948.60. Call it a loophole if you like; a pistol or taser or throwing star would be a dangerous weapon in those circumstances.

6

29.304 doesn’t just apply to hunting, though - it applies to possession and use as well. So a 14-year old would violate 29.304 by carrying an unloaded shotgun, not in a case, in downtown Sheboygan. By doing so, the adult that gave him the shotgun is also in violation. But it seems that that wouldn’t apply to a 17 year old with a loaded shotgun if he had completed a hunter safety course in Minnesota.

I guess that the 17yo who has completed a hunter safety course is judged a better risk than a 17yo who hasn’t, and is thus allowed to carry a rifle or shotgun. Similarly, a person under 18 is allowed to get a probationary driver’s license if they have completed a driver’s ed course. If you’re over 18 the driver’s ed course is optional.

7

Reading 29.304, I’m convinced. That is the statute that governs the possession of rifles and shotguns by persons 0-16 and you do not violate 948.60 if you’re in compliance with 29.304. (But, I think, while 29.304 talks about “firearms” generally, 948.60 would serve to limit 29.304 to rifles and shotguns).

But I think that this results in a blanket exception for 17 year-olds with (long-enough) rifles or shotguns. Because I don’t understand why 29.593 is cited at all – it appears to govern who can be issued a “hunting approval”. It doesn’t seem to permit or prohibit anything. (I assume that hunting without said approval is unlawful, but that provision must be elsewhere). I don’t see how it requires that the 17 year old complete a hunter safety course to open carry in downtown Sheboygan. But i also don’t see what it’s doing here at all.