Some Milwaukee voters say gun violence is a top issue. Here’s what the candidates have to say.

Gun violence has plagued the city of Milwaukee for years. Although homicides and nonfatal shootings declined this year, community leaders have said the number is still far too high.

This election year, WPR is asking people across the state what issues they care about as they head to the polls. At events in Milwaukee’s 8th Assembly District and 4th Senate District, several residents said gun violence is a top concern.

As of last Thursday, there had been 112 homicides and 560 nonfatal shootings in the city so far this year, according to crime statistics from the Milwaukee Police Department.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson has often called for stricter gun laws at the state and federal level. The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence ranked Wisconsin as a C for its “gun law strength.”

Meanwhile, a new report found deaths involving firearms in Wisconsin have been on the rise since 2018.

For one Assembly candidate, the issue is personal

Democratic State Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez is running unopposed for another term representing the 8th Assembly District, which encompasses parts of Milwaukee’s south side and the Walker’s Point neighborhood.

Ortiz-Velez has a personal connection with the issue. In 2022, she was caught in the middle of a drive-by shooting near her home on the city’s south side. 

“I hear gunshots all the time,” Ortiz-Velez told WPR. “So it’s something that you … kind of learn to live with, unfortunately.” 

She said she’s still worried about her safety in the neighborhood.

“People get shot by stray bullets all the time,” she said.

While she was serving on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors in 2022, the board passed a resolution to ask voters if they believed the “sale, manufacture, transfer or possession of semi-automatic ‘military-style’ firearms” should be prohibited.

Nearly 70 percent of people who voted on the advisory referendum said yes.

Ortiz-Velez said she believes there should be more restrictions on those weapons, although she likely wouldn’t support a complete ban. She also said she supports restrictions on high-capacity magazines. Wisconsin is not one of the 14 states that prohibit high-capacity magazines, often defined as magazines that allow more than 10 rounds in them, according to Everytown Research.

A gun owner herself, Ortiz-Velez said she supports “responsible gun ownership.” She said she doesn’t believe a gun owner needs 30 or 50 rounds in a magazine. 

“I’m not saying ‘take away a person’s gun’ at all,” she said. “I’m saying there’s no need to have a clip that’s going to have that many rounds.”

Senate candidate says she supports ‘responsible’ gun laws

Wisconsin Democratic Rep. Dora Drake is running unopposed for the state’s 4th Senate District, which includes part of northern Milwaukee and parts of Milwaukee’s northern suburbs.

Drake, who currently serves on the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee in the state Assembly, supported a measure to get a state office of gun violence prevention. She also supported a package of bills that included stricter gun laws, including red flag gun laws, ghost gun laws and expanding background checks.

But those plans were never taken up for a vote in the Wisconsin Legislature, where Republicans hold a big majority.

Drake said she supports people’s second amendment rights.

“But we have to be responsible. And we need to push and advocate and have common sense, responsible gun laws so people can still have the ability to protect themselves — but they can still be responsible with it,” she said.

Ghost guns are unserialized and untraceable by law enforcement. Wisconsin currently has no law that restricts those ghost guns, according to Giffords Law Center. Drake said that poses problems for law enforcement. 

“So if there’s not a mechanism for our city and our local governments to do what they want to do, which is serve and protect our community, then we put them at a disadvantage from doing their job the best way,” Drake said.

WPR also spoke with residents in Assembly District 10, where Democratic State Rep. Darrin Madison is running unopposed. He did not respond to a request for an interview for this story.