Wisconsin CCW working as intended

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Man holds road rage suspects at gunpoint

A man with a concealed carry permit held two people at gunpoint Tuesday after the duo rammed him on Highway 29 and then began beating him in a road rage incident, according to police.

Wausau officers and a deputy from the Marathon County Sheriff’s Department were called at about 1 p.m. to a road rage hit-and-run crash on Highway 29 near Highway O. A 49-year-old man from Appleton reported the SUV he was driving was rammed from behind by a van he had passed on the highway, and a 911 dispatcher directed the caller to pull off the road into the Menards parking lot on Wausau’s west side to await officers.

The driver of the SUV, who holds a permit allowing him to carry a concealed pistol, told police he pulled the gun and pointed it at the driver and an occupant of the van after they started beating him and stabbing him with car keys, according to the police report. When police arrived, the man unloaded his weapon and placed it on the seat, police said. No shots were fired.

According to a Wausau Police Department report, the driver of the van, Nicholas Flanagan, 30, and the passenger in the van, Jessica Ratliff, 26, both of Menominee, Mich., were arrested and booked on preliminary misdemeanor charges of battery and disorderly conduct. No charges were filed against the man with the gun, who alerted the 911 dispatcher he had the weapon and a concealed carry permit before officers arrived at the scene, police said.

Wausau Deputy Police Chief Bryan Hilts said this is the first incident he can recall in Wausau involving someone with a concealed carry permit using a gun to protect himself. Wisconsin’s concealed carry law, which took effect Nov. 1, 2011, allows those who undergo training and pass a background check to have a pistol or other weapon.

Wisconsin Department of Justice spokeswoman Dana Brueck said that as of Nov. 25, more than 156,000 concealed carry permit applications have been processed and more than 142,000 licenses have been issued in Wisconsin since the concealed carry law went into effect last year. The Department of Justice does not track applications by county, Brueck said.

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