Relating to: proclaiming June 6, 2025, as Gun Violence Awareness Day in Wisconsin.
Summary
Assembly Joint Resolution 61 is a commemorative resolution that would have proclaimed June 6, 2025, as Gun Violence Awareness Day in Wisconsin. The resolution contains a series of “whereas” clauses describing the scope and impacts of gun violence, including firearm deaths and injuries in Wisconsin and nationwide, the role of suicide in firearm mortality, and the economic costs associated with gun violence. It also notes that the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that the Second Amendment permits reasonable firearm regulations and states that gun safety laws save lives.
The resolution does not create a new regulatory program, impose penalties, or amend existing statutes. Its legal effect would have been limited to an official legislative proclamation recognizing a day of awareness, rather than changing state firearms law. Because the bill failed to adopt pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1, it did not become an enacted proclamation.
Impact
AJR61 would have had no direct effect on Wisconsin statutes, administrative rules, or firearm regulations beyond the symbolic designation of June 6, 2025, as Gun Violence Awareness Day. It would not have altered gun ownership, carry, sales, background checks, or other firearms-related legal requirements. Its practical impact would have been public and commemorative, aimed at awareness and advocacy rather than legal change.
Sentiment
The bill’s text reflects a strongly supportive and public-health-oriented stance toward gun violence prevention, emphasizing deaths, injuries, suicide, and the costs of firearm violence. The available legislative history shows no recorded committee debate or vote details, so there is no documented opposition or support beyond the bill’s introduction and sponsorship. The resolution ultimately failed to adopt, indicating it did not secure final legislative approval.
Contention
The main point of contention is likely the resolution’s framing of gun violence and its implicit support for gun safety laws, which can be politically divisive in Wisconsin. The whereas clauses reference Supreme Court recognition of reasonable firearm restrictions and cite gun safety laws as life-saving, language that may draw objections from gun-rights advocates or lawmakers wary of endorsing broader firearm regulation. At the same time, because the measure is a symbolic awareness resolution rather than a regulatory bill, any disagreement would center more on messaging and policy implications than on direct legal consequences.