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Bills from the 2023–24 session

Assembly Bill 859

Firearm transfers and possession that are prohibited under federal law. (FE)

Stopped in committee

It never got a ⁠, so it never came up for a vote. To try again, a lawmaker would have to start a new bill.

  1. Introduced, passed

    Dec 22, 2023

  2. Committee, stopped here

    Stopped here. No public hearing was held.

  3. Assembly vote, not reached

  4. Senate vote, not reached

  5. Governor, not reached

  6. Law, not reached

Latest entry in the official record, Apr 15, 2024: “Failed to pass pursuant to ⁠”

It never got a hearing in the Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety. See every bill that never got a hearing this session.

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What it would have done

Summary by the , the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.

Under federal law, a person is prohibited from possessing a firearm if he or she has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. Under state law, a person who is prohibited from possessing a firearm under federal or state law also may not purchase a firearm or be issued a license to carry a concealed weapon. State law requires the Department of Justice, before approving a handgun purchase or issuing a license, to conduct a background check to determine if the person is prohibited from possessing a firearm. To determine if the person is prohibited under federal law, DOJ must review court records of all of the person's criminal convictions to identify if any conviction is for a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. DOJ must determine if the relationship between the offender and the victim qualifies as a domestic relationship and if the offender engaged in violent conduct when committing the crime. The bill reorganizes two statutes—the crime of disorderly conduct and the definition of domestic abuse—so that DOJ is able to more easily determine if a conviction qualifies as a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

First, under current law, a person is guilty of disorderly conduct if the person engages in violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, unreasonably loud, or otherwise disorderly conduct and if the conduct tends to cause or provoke a disturbance. A person who has been convicted of disorderly conduct is prohibited from possessing a firearm if the disorderly conduct was a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence—that is, if the person engaged in violent conduct and if the relationship between the person and the victim was domestic. The bill reorganizes the disorderly conduct statute to separate “violent” conduct from the other types of disorderly conduct so that the court record clearly indicates that the crime was a violent crime.

Read the full summary

Second, under current state law, “domestic abuse” is defined as certain actions taken against a victim if the victim is related to the actor, has a child in common with the actor, or currently resides or has resided with the actor. Unlike state law, federal law does not define a crime as domestic violence if the only relationship is that the victim currently resides or has resided with the actor. The bill reorganizes the statute defining domestic abuse so that a court record would indicate the exact nature of the relationship. Therefore, under the bill, the court record would indicate when a person who is guilty under state law of a crime of domestic abuse is not guilty under federal law of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

Who's behind it

15 lawmakers are its ⁠. All 15 are Democrats.

16 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 31 names

Authors (15)

Signed on in support (16)

What happened

  1. Apr 15, 2024

    The session ended, and the bill died with it.

  2. Jan 18, 2024 to Feb 6, 2024

    4 more representatives signed on in support.

  3. Dec 22, 2023

    Sent to the Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety.

  4. Dec 22, 2023

    Introduced in the Assembly.

See the official record, word for word
  1. Dec 22, 2023 · Assembly

    Introduced by Representatives Subeck, Palmeri, C. Anderson, J. Anderson, Andraca, Clancy, Conley, Emerson, Jacobson, Joers, Madison, Ohnstad, Ratcliff, Sinicki and Stubbs; cosponsored by Senators Roys, Agard, Carpenter, Hesselbein, Jacque, L. Johnson, Larson, Pfaff, Smith, Spreitzer, Taylor and Wirch

  2. Dec 22, 2023 · Assembly

    Read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety

  3. Jan 18, 2024 · Assembly

    Representative Goyke added as a coauthor

  4. Jan 24, 2024 · Assembly

    Representative Haywood added as a coauthor

  5. Jan 31, 2024 · Assembly

    Representative Billings added as a coauthor

  6. Feb 6, 2024 · Assembly

    Representative Moore Omokunde added as a coauthor

  7. Apr 15, 2024 · Assembly

    Failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1

Terms on this page

Committee

A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.

More in the glossary

Public hearing

A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.

More in the glossary

Senate Joint Resolution 1

The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.

Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1. More in the glossary

Legislative Reference Bureau

The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.

Official term: LRB analysis. More in the glossary

Author

A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Official term: Author, coauthor. More in the glossary

Signed on in support

Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.

Official term: Cosponsor. More in the glossary

From the Wisconsin Legislature's official record, checked Sep 15, 2026. See the source

Committee

A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.

More in the glossary

Public hearing

A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.

More in the glossary

Senate Joint Resolution 1

The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.

Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1

More in the glossary

Legislative Reference Bureau

The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.

Official term: LRB analysis

More in the glossary

Author

A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Official term: Author, coauthor

More in the glossary

Signed on in support

Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.

Official term: Cosponsor

More in the glossary