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In an early test of Wisconsin's new weapons law, Milwaukee police are seeking concealed weapon charges against an area gun rights activist who was wearing a gun in her car - before getting a new state permit.

Krysta Sutterfield was arrested early Friday outside a closed Sherman Park coffee shop, where she was using a computer inside her parked car - while wearing her ever-present handgun. She was jailed overnight, and her gun has been confiscated.

Sutterfield, 42, made news last year when she openly wore the gun to services at a Brookfield church and was arrested afterward. She was not formally charged, and she later settled a false arrest lawsuit against the city for $7,500.

Earlier this year, Sutterfield went to court for the return of a gun seized by Milwaukee police after her therapist reported Sutterfield had made a suicidal comment. A national gun rights attorney sharply criticized how police revealed confidential medical information about Sutterfield to a judge without notice to Sutterfield in gun court.

On Tuesday, she entered not guilty pleas to two municipal citations from Friday: for loitering or prowling and obstructing an officer, said her attorney, Rebecca Coffee.

But Milwaukee police also referred a charge of carrying a concealed weapon to prosecutors. Coffee said she and Sutterfield met Monday with an assistant district attorney who's reviewing the matter.

"My client very much believes she was within her rights," Coffee said. "But the issue remains unresolved - what effect does elimination of the unlawful transport (of a gun) statute have on the new concealed carry law?"

Coffee said Wisconsin case law had defined concealing a weapon pretty broadly, to include having a gun on the front passenger seat of a vehicle.

But much has changed since Wisconsin's adoption of Act 35, which allows residents to get permits to carry concealed guns and altered longtime rules about transporting handguns in vehicles.

Guidelines from the Department of Justice clearly state even someone without a concealed-carry permit can now have a loaded, uncased handgun in their vehicle. However, the handgun "cannot be hidden or concealed and within reach."

Coffee said Sutterfield was careful to have her jacket tucked up and behind her hip holster so her gun would not be considered hidden or concealed.

"It's understandable that people want to know what's legal and what's not legal," Coffee said. "There's some unresolved interpretation here."

Close followers of the gun law changes saw this kind of issue coming. Nik Clark, president of Wisconsin Carry, Inc., said that "in an abundance of caution," the group has recommended that members put their handguns on the dashboard or the seat next to them.

Milwaukee police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwarz said police did a normal field interrogation of Sutterfield because she was parked outside a closed business after midnight, in an area that has experienced several burglaries. She said she couldn't discuss more about the case since the charges are still pending.

Sutterfield hand-delivered her application for Wisconsin concealed carry permit on Nov. 1, the first day they could be submitted, Coffee said, but had not yet received the permit. As of Tuesday, some 37,000 applications had been submitted, according to the state Department of Justice.

Mental health issue

Her March contact with police over possible mental health concerns apparently will not affect her application. The law denies a permit only to someone who has been committed for mental health treatment, not those subjected to short-term emergency detention and released. Police took a gun from Sutterfield and she petitioned for its return two days later. She had court hearings in May and July.

According to court records regarding that incident:

Sutterfield's doctor called Milwaukee police around noon on March 22 after Sutterfield stated during a therapy session that she was so upset she might go home and blow her brains out.

Police went to Sutterfield's house around 2:30 p.m., but the therapist told them Sutterfield was fine and they should leave her alone. Police returned at 9 p.m., confiscated Sutterfield's Glock pistol and some ammunition, and took her to the county's mental health complex for an emergency detention.

Two days later, Sutterfield filed a petition to get her gun back. She alleged the March 22 visit from police resulted from a misunderstanding about an expired welfare check. "I'm not a danger to anyone except an attacker," she wrote.

Before a May hearing, a police official sent Circuit Judge Rebecca Dallet a letter asking the gun not be returned because of the therapist's concern and the fact Sutterfield had been taken in on an emergency detention.

Sutterfield was not given a copy or notice of the letter. At the May hearing, she produced a letter from her current psychotherapist stating that at an April 6 session, she had no concern that Sutterfield might be a danger to herself or others. Sutterfield said the police officer in charge of gun returns, Michael Perez, had told her that's what she would need to bring to the hearing.

Assistant District Attorney Christopher Rawsthorne said he had concerns about the letter, and Dallet said she would have to call the doctor to verify the statement before proceeding. Dallet said she couldn't immediately reach the doctor and would have to put the hearing off until July.

Then Sutterfield involved John Monroe, a Georgia lawyer who specializes in gun rights litigation nationwide and has represented Wisconsin Carry Inc., and its members in federal lawsuits challenging arrests around Wisconsin over the open wearing of guns

In a legal brief, Monroe argued it was improper for police, without going through the city's lawyer, to contact the judge directly, especially without giving notice or a copy of the letter to Sutterfield. He also said the letter unlawfully disclosed confidential medical records concerning Sutterfield, even though they did not address any of the statutory criteria for not returning her gun.

Monroe also called it irregular and unfair for Dallet to conduct her own investigation into the veracity of the doctor's letter Sutterfield presented at the May hearing.

"In short, a naked desire for the City to disarm Petitioner is inadequate to support a permanent confiscation of her property," Monroe wrote.

A week after the brief was submitted, Dallet ordered Sutterfield's gun returned.