Why shouldn't gun nuts make the gun laws?

UPDATE: AG Peg Lautenschlager has gone to court to seek release of the draft of a concealed carry bill that the authors shared with the NRA but won't give to the attorney general .Press release.

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This headline on this story about a dispute over who can see the draft of the latest concealed carry bill seems to miss the main point. Here's the headline:

Gun bill ignites open records dispute;
Does sharing draft with outsiders make it public?

The gist of the story is that there is still another bill being drafted to let people in Wisconsin carry concealed weapons on the street, on the bus, in the parks, in shopping malls, at athletic events, and other places where more guns are the obvious way to stop violence.

The attorney general's office has asked to see the bill draft, since in its latest incarnation the bill reportedly designates the AG as the one to issue the permits to gun-toters.

No dice, says one of the sponsors, State Rep. Scott Gunderson (R-Waterford). Drafts are confidential until they're introduced. The AG disagrees, and says that sharing a "draft" document with anyone on the outside makes it a public document.

Boring, huh?

Until you find out that the outsiders who have seen the draft and offered comments are the pro-gun lobby, the National Rifle Assn. The NRA offered "feedback," Gunderson says.

When Gunderson announced earlier this summer that the AG would be the one to issue the permits, Deputy AG Dan Bach made a written request for copies of any drafts that the authors had shared with third parties. Bach said he made the request because the new bill could hurt the Department of Justice's budget and could make the public less safe. I don't know about the budget, but I get the "less safe" part.

"I made the request primarily because I wanted to see the bill draft, and when I got the response that I got from them, it raised concerns . . . that once again this appears to be a situation where special interests are being afforded a role in the legislative process and the rest of us are being frozen out of it," he said.

That's the real issue: Should the NRA lobbyists secretly be writing gun legislation? (Some will say they have been for years, which is probably true).

Gunderson apparently doesn't see anything wrong with that.

Of course, he doesn't see anything wrong with every Tom, Dick and Harriet packing heat, either.

Watch for this bill to come out of the chute fast, get a quick hearing and be rushed to a vote before opponents have a chance to organize.

UPDATE: A squishy editorial follows the story.