Criminal Background Checks

Currently, prospective gun purchasers are required to show identification and undergo a criminal background check only when purchasing a gun from a licensed firearm dealer. Unlicensed dealers and individuals sell approximately half of all guns in Wisconsin.

WAVE favors legislation that would extend the current background check system to all gun transactions.

View our growing coalition of partners who support background checks on all gun sales

Updates and Events

Madison Mayor Paul Soglin: Close loophole that caters to criminals

Simple and common sense fixes to Wisconsin’s gun laws could have prevented the recent tragic Brookfield shootings.

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It's time to close loophole in Wisconsin's gun laws

We support a proposal that would require a background check for everyone buying a gun.

Milwaukee Journal...

Radcliffe Haughton sidestepped Brown Deer police for years

The Azana Spa shooter was prohibited from purchasing a gun because of a protective order against him, so he bought a gun from a private seller who can legally sell guns to anyone with no background check, no identification and no questions asked...

Research

The Case for Gun Policy Reforms in America

A report from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, The Case for Gun...

Point, Click, Fire

An investigation of online private gun sales found that 62% of sellers were willing to sell guns to people who said they couldn’t pass a criminal background check....

A new survey confirms what we have long been saying: the NRA doesn’t represent the views of its members.

A survey conducted by Frank Luntz shows that 86% of gun owners feel we can do more to stop criminals from getting guns while also protecting the rights of citizens to freely own them, 85% support...