Wisconsin Senate Bill SB1046

Wisconsin 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/24/26
• Refer: 2/24/26
• Failed: 3/23/26

Caption

An Act to renumber and amend 941.2905 (1); to amend 20.455 (2) (gr), 51.20 (13) (cv) 4., 51.45 (13) (i) 4., 54.10 (3) (f) 4., 55.12 (10) (d), 175.60 (7) (d), 175.60 (15) (b) 4. b., 813.12 (6) (am) 1., 813.12 (6) (am) 2., 813.122 (9) (am) 1., 813.122 (9) (am) 2., 813.123 (8m) (a), 813.123 (8m) (b), 813.125 (5r) (a), 813.125 (5r) (b), 938.208 (1) (b), 938.34 (4m) (b) 2., 938.396 (2g) (n), 939.46 (3), 941.237 (1) (d), 941.2905 (2) (intro.), 941.296 (1) (b) and 968.20 (3) (b); to repeal and recreate 175.35 and 175.37; to create 20.455 (2) (gs), 66.05115, 146.27, 165.64, 941.2905 (1g) and 941.2905 (1m) (b) of the statutes; Relating to: permits for firearms dealers, firearms transactions and safety, firearms crimes, making an appropriation, and providing a penalty. (FE)

Summary

SB1046 would create a new state permitting system for firearms dealers in Wisconsin and substantially expand state regulation of firearm sales, storage, recordkeeping, and dealer security. A person who sells or offers to sell at least five firearms in a 12-month period would need a Wisconsin DOJ permit for each location, in addition to any federal firearms license. The bill sets application, renewal, inspection, and appeal procedures; requires annual and periodic on-site inspections; and authorizes DOJ to revoke or suspend permits for specified violations. It also requires dealers to wait seven days after requesting a background check before transferring a firearm, retain extensive electronic records and inventory information, and provide trigger locks or secure cases with transferred firearms along with posted warnings and safety information. The bill also creates new duties for law enforcement and DOJ. Law enforcement agencies would be required to use the federal eTrace system, submit trace requests within 48 hours for recovered firearms, and enter recovered firearms and shell casings into ballistic databases. DOJ would compile trace data, analyze trends, maintain a public dashboard, and provide restricted-access analytics for law enforcement. The bill further requires dealers and manufacturers to respond quickly to trace requests and to report losses, thefts, or unlawful transfers within 24 hours. In addition to regulatory changes, SB1046 increases penalties and creates new offenses related to firearms trafficking and straw purchasing. It raises the penalty for knowingly furnishing, purchasing, or possessing a firearm for a prohibited person from a Class G felony to a Class D felony, and creates a new Class D felony for purchasing or receiving a firearm on behalf of someone when there is reason to know the firearm will be used in furtherance of a felony, federal crime of terrorism, or drug trafficking crime. The bill also creates a broad “gun industry member” public nuisance framework that allows the attorney general and private parties to sue firearm-related businesses for allegedly unreasonable or unlawful conduct that endangers public health or safety. The bill would amend numerous existing statutes to align court-notification and background-check procedures with the new firearms restrictions record search system, including provisions involving mental health commitments, domestic abuse injunctions, child abuse injunctions, harassment injunctions, and juvenile delinquency findings. It also changes references to handgun definitions and seized weapons procedures. The effective date is July 1, 2026, and the bill includes an appropriation to fund administration of the new permit system. Overall, the bill appears to have been framed as a comprehensive firearm safety and enforcement measure, but it did not advance: its last action was failure to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1. No committee transcript or recorded votes were provided, so there is no documented floor or committee debate in the supplied materials. Based on the bill text alone, the measure is strongly regulatory and enforcement-oriented, with likely support from gun-safety advocates and likely opposition from firearms dealers, manufacturers, and gun-rights supporters who may object to the permit requirement, waiting period, inspection regime, and nuisance-liability provisions.

Impact

SB1046 would create new Wisconsin statutes governing firearms dealer permits, dealer recordkeeping, dealer security standards, law-enforcement tracing duties, and a new cause of action and enforcement scheme for gun industry conduct. It would also amend many existing statutes that govern firearm prohibitions and background-check notifications so that courts and agencies can feed identifying information into DOJ’s firearms restrictions record search and background-check systems. The bill would increase criminal penalties for straw purchasing and add a new felony offense for purchasing firearms on behalf of someone intending criminal use. It would impose new administrative fees, appropriations, and DOJ oversight responsibilities, while also affecting dealers, manufacturers, law enforcement agencies, and persons subject to firearm restrictions.

Sentiment

The supplied materials show no committee transcript or vote record, so there is no direct evidence of debate tone or member statements. The bill’s structure and subject matter suggest a strong public-safety orientation, with emphasis on dealer oversight, tracing, storage, suicide-prevention warnings, and trafficking prevention. At the same time, the breadth of regulation, the new permit requirement, and the public-nuisance liability provisions indicate the bill would likely have been controversial among firearms businesses and gun-rights opponents. Its failure to pass suggests it did not secure enough support to advance.

Contention

The most notable points of contention are the new state permit requirement for dealers who sell at least five firearms per year, the seven-day waiting period before transfer, the extensive inspection and recordkeeping obligations, and the requirement that dealers provide locks, warnings, and printed safety materials. Another major flashpoint is the bill’s “gun industry member” public nuisance framework, which could expose manufacturers, distributors, and sellers to attorney general and private lawsuits for conduct deemed unlawful or unreasonable. The increased felony penalties for straw purchasing and the new offense tied to intended criminal use of a firearm are also likely to be debated, as are the bill’s mandates on law enforcement trace participation and DOJ data publication.