Kiss and Slap

The National Rifle Association's 135th annual convention begins today in Milwaukee.

Sixty thousand people are expected to attend, bringing in millions of dollars to area businesses.

It's a huge event for the city and the state; but Governor Jim Doyle, Mayor Tom Barrett, and The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board have mixed feelings about the visitors.

On Thursday, Doyle issued a statement in honor of the tens of thousands of guests gathering at the convention.

"Wisconsin is always pleased to welcome conventions and visitors to our state, and we will be an excellent host to thousands of people expected at the NRA meeting this week. I'm concerned, however, about the message the NRA is going to deliver tomorrow.

"In Wisconsin, we honor and uphold the right to bear arms. Our great tradition of hunting and responsible gun ownership is part of who we are in this state, and we cherish that tradition.

"At the same time, what concerns the vast majority of Wisconsin families is keeping our kids and our communities safe. We are deeply concerned about the NRA's zealous support of legislation that would allow loaded, hidden guns at playgrounds, shopping malls, and school zones. The overwhelming majority of law enforcement in our state also vigorously opposes this NRA backed plan, fearing it will put our kids, our cops, and our communities at extreme risk.

"As the NRA gathers in Milwaukee, I'm challenging them to rethink their support for a proposal that is so strongly opposed by law enforcement and the vast majority of Wisconsin citizens. Instead of making it legal to carry a concealed weapon into a daycare center, we ought to be focused on ways to help middle class families afford to buy a home and enjoy all the good things life in our state has to offer."

Riiight.

Does an "excellent host" bash guests?

Does an "excellent host" challenge guests to change their thinking?

Does an "excellent host" exploit guests to further his own political agenda?

NO to all of the above.

If that's Doyle's idea of welcoming people to the state, then he needs to brush up on his etiquette.

Mayor Tom Barrett isn't exactly putting out the welcome mat for NRA members either.

MILWAUKEE -- On the eve of the National Rifle Association convention in Milwaukee the organization is making national news.

The NRA took out a full-page ad in USA Today asking all American mayors and police chiefs to sign a pledge that they will "never forcibly confiscate firearms from law-abiding citizens."

Barrett responded, "I find some irony in the fact that the newspaper ad appears the same day that a bill pushed by the NRA makes it more difficult for me to find if there are illegal guns being sold in this community."

Can you feel the Gemütlichkeit?

Barrett held a news conference to address the NRA's initiative as well as to respond to remarks made by NRA officials indicating their disappointment in how their group is being treated by state and local politicians.

At a City Hall news conference later Thursday, Mayor Tom Barrett said that if NRA leaders want him to sign the pledge, they should accept his invitation to meet and discuss illegal guns and their role in gun violence.

Barrett grudingly said that he welcomes the NRA to Milwaukee and hopes they return. He seemed like a hostage being forced by his captors to say things he didn't believe.

Earlier in the week, in a clearly political move, Barrett invited NRA leaders to meet with him to talk issues, not to take a brewery tour.

"Fighting crime, including crimes involving illegal guns, is not a partisan issue," Barrett wrote in a letter to NRA President Sandra Froman and Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre. "Parents should not have to worry about their children being hit by stray bullets while policy-makers and interest groups argue over ideology. It's time to have some fruitful discussions that will lead to safer streets and saved lives."

In an interview Tuesday, Barrett said he supports the Second Amendment and hunters' rights but is concerned about gun violence. He also said NRA leaders had not yet responded to his invitation, which was faxed Monday.

Perhaps Barrett should have taken a different approach. As mayor of the host city, I don't think he's being a very gracious host. I think he's being obnoxious.

On Friday when the convention opens, rather than greeting the 60,000 visitors to Milwaukee, Barrett has other plans.

Barrett will discuss federal restrictions on local law enforcement agencies' access to information about gun dealers selling weapons used in crimes, when he speaks to a Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort luncheon at the Mother Kathryn Daniels Conference Center, 3500 W. Mother Daniels Way.

What a coincidence!

Barrett will be discussing guns and crime on the very day that the convention kicks off.

What are the odds?

Then, to top off the "greetings" from the governor and the mayor, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel runs a "kiss and slap" editorial, "There is a middle ground," to welcome the NRA members to the city. To call it an insult is an understatement.

It is condescending, insincere, and almost mocking in tone -- really disgraceful.

Welcome to Milwaukee, members of the National Rifle Association. Your three-day annual meeting gets under way today at the Midwest Airlines Center. Gun enthusiasts are expected to flock to downtown Milwaukee by the thousands.

We hope your visit is fun. No doubt, you'll stay busy attending meetings, hearing speeches - Gen. Tommy Franks will give the keynote talk at a dinner Saturday night - and touring "acres of guns and gear," as your organization puts it. But please take some time to sample Milwaukee, too. Feel free, in fact, to stay awhile after the conference.

KISS, KISS!

"Feel free... ."

Yes, this Editorial Board does have differences of opinion with the NRA. Maybe your visit will allow us to learn more about your perspective. And maybe, conversely, your annual foray into an urban center will open your eyes just a bit to a view opposite yours.

Maybe this interaction will uncover a middle ground on which reasonable people can stand. Goodness gracious, we believe in your right to hunt. And your efforts to teach gun safety are laudable. We'll put that in writing. Can this be a starting point of a meeting of minds?

"Goodness gracious"?

I can't recall the JS editorial board ever using that phrase before. Weird.

The "We'll put that in writing" line is so patronizing.

After the initial "kisses," now comes rapid fire "slaps" from the board.

What we do have a hard time buying is that military-style, semiautomatic weapons are essential to the right to hunt. Yet in backing a federal ban on such weapons, we find ourselves accused of trying to outlaw all guns. These rapid-fire weapons are a favorite of organized gangs and mass killers and a peril to law officers. So as we see it, the NRA's successful lobbying to lift that ban aids the bad guys.

Ditto for NRA's opposition to closing the gun-show loophole in the Brady Law, which requires licensed gun dealers to check with the FBI the background of buyers to ensure that they aren't felons or otherwise ineligible to own firearms. The rule does not apply to unlicensed dealers, who proliferate at gun shows, which, according to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, thugs and gangsters do frequent. So do suspected suppliers of foreign terrorists, court documents suggest.

Rather than closing that loophole, the NRA calls for tougher enforcement of existing gun laws, such as the prohibition of gun ownership by felons. That issue is worth exploring. Still, authorities already conduct periodic crackdowns on illegal gun possession in Milwaukee, and judges tend to heighten penalties if a gun is involved in a crime.

Besides, we don't understand why society can't take both approaches: Make it tougher for outlaws to obtain guns in the first place and crack down on them if they did manage to gain weapons illegally.

The NRA has campaigned - successfully, overall - to have each state enact a law permitting the carrying of concealed weapons. Wisconsin has been a holdout, however.

Gov. Jim Doyle vetoed concealed-carry bills. He was right to do so. We actually agree with the NRA that the law might do some good, by allowing license-holders to defend themselves. But we also note that such laws have done some ill elsewhere, leading to unjustified shootings or to harm to license-holders trying to thwart crime. In our judgment, the threat of the bad is greater than the promise of the good.

So there you have some of our differences. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett has invited NRA leaders to meet with him to discuss illegal guns. They should take him up on that offer. Homicides, most of which involve guns, are tormenting Milwaukee.

Yes, there are their differences. How thoughtful of the editorial board to enumerate them!

As far as the suggestion that the NRA should meet with Barrett goes, I would suggest that Barrett make an appearance at the convention and welcome the tens of thousands of visitors to his city. Instead, Barrett and Doyle choose to treat them like criminals.

Barrett was quick to show up at the illegal immigrant protests. He endorses law-breakers, yet he can't bring himself to be even minimally polite to law-abiding citizens because of his political opposition to legal gun owners.

Bottom line: The convention attendees deserve more respect than they are getting from the governor and the mayor, much more.

I think that The Journal Sentinel should strive for middle ground, where they would have the courtesy to treat the city's guests, the ones poised to spend millions of dollars at area businesses, with proper respect.

The NRA is not an evil cult.

On the day that a major national convention opens in Milwaukee, I think it would be appropriate for the city's newspaper to refrain from ripping the organization.

The impression given by Wisconsin leaders and media is not one of welcome, but one of disdain for the group.

I don't understand why the city agreed to host the NRA convention. Barrett is displaying an inappropriate level of animosity. Is he trying to kill his city's chances of landing other major conventions?

Doyle and Barrett and the Journal Sentinel certainly don't have to agree with the NRA on issues, but they should be more cordial.

Meanwhile, help yourselves to tours of two of the city's signature companies: the Miller Brewing Co. and Harley-Davidson Motor Co. Browse works at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Consider moseying over to the Potawatomi Bingo Casino or to Miller Park, where the Milwaukee Brewers are hosting the Minnesota Twins.

Again, welcome. Enjoy.

These final comments really make me sick.

"Do some 'moseying' and enjoy the city! We're so glad you're here!"

What a load!

After delivering all those slaps to NRA members, the editorial board acts as if it can do a 180 and kiss and make up.

I think I would prefer a hostile but completely honest editorial to this disingenuous tripe.

I feel bad for the Greater Milwaukee Convention and Visitors Bureau, as well as the Wisconsin Department of Tourism. They must try to portray Milwaukee and Wisconsin as welcoming, friendly destinations, in spite of boorish state and local leaders like Doyle and Barrett.

Without question, Doyle, Barrett, and The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel owe the visiting NRA members apologies for the insincere kisses and the many undeserved slaps.