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Bills from the 2025–26 session

Assembly Bill 489

Voluntary prohibitions on purchasing a handgun and making an appropriation. (FE)

Topics: Firearms and dangerous weapons, Justice, Department of

Stopped in committee

It never got a ⁠, so it never came up for a vote. The last day for votes this session was Mar 19, 2026. To try again, a lawmaker would have to start a new bill.

  1. Introduced, passed

    Oct 9, 2025

  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, Mar 23, 2026: “Failed to pass pursuant to ⁠”

It never got a hearing in the Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety. The committee's chair at the time was John Spiros. Chairs decide which bills get a hearing. See every bill that never got a hearing this session.

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The same bill was also filed in the Senate as SB 469. That version died when the session ended.

What it would have done

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

This bill requires the Department of Justice to allow individuals to prohibit themselves from purchasing a handgun. Under the bill, DOJ must maintain a database of individuals who voluntarily prohibit themselves from purchasing a handgun. An individual may request inclusion in the database by submitting a request to DOJ. The request must include a method of contacting the individual so that DOJ may verify that the individual made the request. The request must also indicate the length of the prohibition the individual is requesting: a one-year, irrevocable prohibition; a five-year prohibition, the first year being irrevocable; or a 20-year prohibition, the first year being irrevocable. During a revocable period, an individual may remove the prohibition by submitting to DOJ a request for removal. Upon receiving a request for removal, DOJ may not remove the individual from the database until after 48 hours lapse since receipt of the request. The bill also requires DOJ, when responding to a request for a background check from a licensed firearm dealer regarding an individual who is in the database, to indicate that the individual is prohibited from purchasing a handgun.

Who's behind it

30 representatives are its ⁠. All 30 are Democrats.

9 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 39 names

Authors (30)

Signed on in support (9)

What happened

  1. Mar 23, 2026

    The session ended, and the bill died with it.

  2. Feb 9, 2026

    1 more representative signed on in support.

  3. Oct 9, 2025

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

  4. Oct 9, 2025

    Introduced in the Assembly.

See the official record, word for word
  1. Oct 9, 2025 · Assembly

    Introduced by Representatives Snodgrass, Andraca, Anderson, Arney, Bare, Brown, Clancy, DeSmidt, Emerson, Fitzgerald, Haywood, Hong, Joers, Johnson, Madison, Mayadev, McCarville, Moore Omokunde, Neubauer, Ortiz-Velez, Palmeri, Phelps, Rivera-Wagner, Roe, Sinicki, Stroud, Subeck, Tenorio, Udell and Stubbs; cosponsored by Senators Roys, Habush Sinykin, Dassler-Alfheim, Hesselbein, Keyeski, Larson, Ratcliff and Spreitzer

  2. Oct 9, 2025 · Assembly

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

  3. Feb 9, 2026 · Assembly

    Representative J. Jacobson added as a coauthor

  4. Mar 23, 2026 · 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