MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The state Senate has approved a Republican bill that would eliminate Wisconsin’s decades-old 48-hour waiting period for handgun purchases. The Senate passed the bill on a voice vote Tuesday. The proposal now goes to the state Assembly. Republican Gov. Scott Walker, a likely 2016 presidential candidate, supports the bill. The waiting period was enacted in the mid-1970s. The bill’s chief sponsor, Sen. Van Wanggaard, a Racine Republican, says the waiting period was meant to allow time for background checks but the checks now can be done far more quickly with computers and law-abiding citizens shouldn’t have to wait for their guns. Minority Democrats say eliminating the waiting period would allow angry people to get their hands on guns quickly.
