Wisconsin prohibits the knowing possession of a firearm at a place the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is within 1,000 feet of the grounds of a school.¹ This prohibition does not apply to:

• Private property which is not part of school grounds;

• When the firearm is possessed for use in a program approved by a school in the school zone;

• When possessed unloaded while traversing school grounds to gain access to public or private lands open to hunting, if the entry is authorized by school authorities;

• When the firearm is unloaded and encased or in a locked firearm rack on a motor vehicle; or

• When the person is legally hunting in a school forest if the school board has decided that hunting may be allowed there.²

This prohibition also does not apply to individuals licensed to carry a concealed weapon so long as they are not in or on the grounds of the school.³

Wisconsin law provides that school boards of common or union high school districts shall expel a pupil from school for not less than one year whenever it finds that the pupil, while at school or while under the supervision of a school authority, possessed a firearm.⁴

At all universities in the University of Wisconsin system, no person may carry or possess any firearm, whether loaded or unloaded, on university lands or in university buildings or facilities, except with the written approval of the chief administrative officer or for law enforcement purposes.⁵ In addition, no person may display or portray as real any object that resembles a dangerous weapon on university lands or in university buildings or facilities, except with the written approval of the chief administrative officer.⁶

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1. Wis. Stat. § 948.605(2)(a).[↩]
2. Wis. Stat. § 948.605(2)(b) (referring to 18 U.S.C. § 922(q)(2)(B)(i), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii) ).[↩]
3. Wis. Stat. § 948.605(2)(b)(1r).[↩]
4. Wis. Stat. § 120.13(1)(c)(2m).[↩]
5. Wis. Adm. Code UWS § 18.10(3)(a), (d).[↩]
6. Wis. Adm. Code UWS § 18.10(3)(b), (d).[↩]