June 5, 2022 12:40p
(WGTD)---During a discussion last week on a proposal to allow concealed guns carried by permit holders into most county buildings, Kenosha County Board Supervisor Laura Belsky broke down in tears when she described a recent incident of random gunfire near her home next to Peorio Park on Kenosha’s north side.
"I can't say for sure they were shooting at me but it was certainly loud enough that it shook me to my core," Belsky said.
Belsky, who opposes conceal carry in county buildings, found out only later that the person shooting the gun had a valid concealed carry permit in his wallet.
22-year-old Christian Hansler is facing misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct/use of a dangerous weapon, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. Pills and a marijuana pipe were recovered in the vehicle he was in when arrested, along with a loaded gun that Hansler had in his pants. Sitting in the backseat was a two-year-old child.
"It just proves that anybody can get a permit to carry. it doesn't matter if you have a mental illness or in this case drug use," Belsky told the reporter who informed her of Hansler's status as a CCW permit holder. "So it just goes to show that not all conceal and carry permits are given to law-abiding citizens," she said.
According to the criminal complaint, Hansler apologized to the deputy who had stopped the car he was in. He purportedly admitted to firing the gun in the park.
A video and audio recording from a security camera that’s mounted on the side of Belsky’s home adjacent to a ravine in the park includes sounds of six shots and screams and yelling.
At last week’s meeting of the county’s Judiciary and Law Enforcement Committee, proponents of lifting the concealed carry ban in most county buildings characterized permit holders as law abiding citizens who may see fit to spring to action to protect non-permit holders if a situation arises.
Hansler is free on a bond which includes a prohibition against carrying a weapon during the pendency of his case.
The County Board is expected to vote Tuesday night on the proposal to lift the ban. The courthouse, the Public Safety Building and interconnected buildings that house law enforcement and judicial functions would be exempt.
Belsky said she's going to vote against the resolution because most of her constituents and other people she's talked to oppose lifting the ban.
-0-