‘Small government’ Wisconsin Republican looks to punish business owners who ban guns

The NRA might think arming drunken bar and nightclub patrons is a bad idea, but not everyone agrees.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that Wisconsin State Rep. Bob Gannon (R-Slinger) has proposed a new bill called the "Disarmed Citizen Compensation Act" that seeks to actively punish businesses that don't allow guns on their premises.

Specifically, the bill would force businesses that ban guns to pay triple damages to compensate anyone who is harmed by any gun violence that occurs on their properties.

"This bill will give the citizens of Wisconsin a better chance of defending themselves and their loved ones against this scourge of terrorist activity," Gannon said in a press release.

But even if no shootings actually occur at businesses that ban guns, they will still be punished by the bill indirectly since their insurers will likely raise their rates in response to it.

Steve Baas, senior vice president for governmental affairs with Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, told the Journal-Sentinel that he and his organization were not enthusiastic about Gannon's proposal.

Specifically, he said that his members are generally "for tort reform and liability limits" and not liability increases.

Gannon, for what it's worth, stepped into controversy earlier this year when he said Milwaukee's black residents were an "anchor holding back the ship of state as far as jobs is concerned." He also flipped off a Democratic State Rep. who called him out for his comments.