BELLEVUE, Wash., Jan. 14 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) is calling on all Wisconsin residents who support the right of personal protection to call their state legislators and remind them of the importance of SB 214.

That bill is scheduled for consideration in a legislative override session Wednesday, Jan. 21, according to its prime sponsor, Sen. Dave Zien. Anti-gun Gov. Jim Doyle vetoed the Personal Protection Act late last year, despite evidence that concealed carry laws help reduce violent crime rates.

"Wisconsin residents deserve the same kind of sensible, progressive personal protection legislation that has been passed in 46 other states where concealed carry is allowed," said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. "Perhaps Gov. Doyle, with his around-the- clock security, doesn't think his constituents' lives are as valuable as those of citizens in states like New Mexico, Minnesota, Ohio, Virginia, Colorado and Alaska, all states that either passed or strengthened their concealed carry laws in the last twelve months.

"Residents in states like Michigan, Florida, Texas, Washington and Arizona have all demonstrated that concealed carry laws work, and that they are responsible with their firearms," Gottlieb observed. "Personal protection laws are working all over the country, leaving us to wonder just what it is about Wisconsin citizens that causes Jim Doyle to believe they are untrustworthy."

Sen. Zien has appealed to gun rights supporters to crowd the capitol building for next Wednesday's hearing. He is also asking voters to call and write their senators and representatives. The Senate passed SB 214 by a vote of 24-8 and the Assembly passed it 64-35. A 66-vote majority in the Assembly is required to override Doyle's veto.

"Wisconsin's law-abiding citizens should not have to wait another year, or even another day, to exercise that most basic of human rights, the right of personal protection," Gottlieb stated. "It's time for Wisconsin lawmakers to show some backbone against the governor, and some responsibility to the self-defense rights of their fellow citizens."

With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is one of the nation's premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States.