U.S.A. – In 1998, Wisconsin concluded the lengthy process to amend the state constitution to add an amendment protecting the right to keep and bear arms. The amendment passed by a super majority, 74% to 26%.
The amendment is straightforward.
The people have the right to keep and bear arms for security, defense, hunting, recreation or any other lawful purpose.
The amendment was codified in the Wisconsin state constitution as section 25 of Article I. Court cases challenging Wisconsin laws that infringed on rights protected by section 25 began fairly quickly.
In July of 2003, the Wisconsin Supreme Court found the state ban on the carry of concealed weapons to be presumptively legal, in State v. Cole. They stated that a Constitutional amendment is still subject to “reasonable regulation“. The court essentially neutered the right to keep and bear arms as a significant protection of people’s rights. The court had a nominally conservative majority. The case was heard five years before the Heller decision in 2008. Cole was an ugly case with the defendant a convicted drug dealer.