By Dave Begel Contributing Writer Published Mar 05, 2015 at 5:30 AM

The opinions expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the opinions of OnMilwaukee.com, its advertisers or editorial staff.

If I didn’t know better I’d think that Gov. Scott Walker is running for president by going around kissing the butt of every nut job who might be able to deliver either money, influence or votes to his campaign.

In case you are perplexed,  here is an example of what I’m talking about.

Walker has publicly signaled his support for a bill that would eliminate Wisconsin’s 48-hour waiting period for buying a handgun. The governor made his comments in an interview with a National Rifle Association radio program.

That’s the NRA, the powerful lobbying group that has common sense in a virtual stranglehold in this country. If it’s got a bullet it’s just handy-dandy with the NRA.

Talk about the perfect storm of idiot ideas, this one seems like a hurricane.

First of all you have State Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) – a former police investigator – who came up with this concept. The police thing is normally thrown in to make it seem as if the Racine Republican has some kind of special authority regarding this bill.

Wanggaard was quoted as saying that the waiting period for handguns amounted to a "time tax" on both the sellers and buyers of the weapons.

Then our governor, who undoubtedly would love to have the NRA in his corner, was asked about it and it was almost as if he had diarrhea of the mouth and couldn’t help himself.  

"We’ve gone big and bold with a lot of issues," he said. "That’s one of those where with new technology, we want to make sure the bad guys don’t get firearms, and the good guys do.

"We’ve been the leader when it comes to freedom over the last four years," he said, highlighting how Wisconsin became the 49th state to pass a concealed carry law.

"In fact, the NRA played a big role in that," he said, in a Madison State Journal story.

I want to add before we get too far down this road that, while Walker is running for president, Wanggaard is running for class dunce.

"I can’t walk in a door and purchase one without having to come back again," Wanggaard said. "There’s all the driving involved because that’s 45 minutes to where I purchase my firearms from where I live. So now it’s causing me more time and money to be able to do that.

"There’s also no waiting period on knives and edged weapons and a lot of homicides occur that way," he explained. "Are we going to put a 48-hour waiting period on a set of kitchen utensils or baseball bats?"

There is almost no way to answer that question without feeling stupid yourself. I can’t imagine that anyone actually thinks that having to spend a little more time before you can get a handgun is a bad idea. I mean whose freedoms are getting abridged here?

Walker is fond of telling everyone lately that in Wisconsin we are going after "big and bold" ideas. From where I sit we are making it easier to get guns to kill people and harder for people to vote. Call me crazy, but that seems to be ass backward.

What we could really use in this whole thing is an appearance by Sheriff David Clarke, who has never missed an opportunity to throw his cowboy hat in the ring to suck up to the NRA. Now that would be the perfect storm.

Dave Begel Contributing Writer

With a history in Milwaukee stretching back decades, Dave tries to bring a unique perspective to his writing, whether it's sports, politics, theater or any other issue.

He's seen Milwaukee grow, suffer pangs of growth, strive for success and has been involved in many efforts to both shape and re-shape the city. He's a happy man, now that he's quit playing golf, and enjoys music, his children and grandchildren and the myriad of sports in this state. He loves great food and hates bullies and people who think they are smarter than everyone else.

This whole Internet thing continues to baffle him, but he's willing to play the game as long as OnMilwaukee.com keeps lending him a helping hand. He is constantly amazed that just a few dedicated people can provide so much news and information to a hungry public.

Despite some opinions to the contrary, Dave likes most stuff. But he is a skeptic who constantly wonders about the world around him. So many questions, so few answers.