Chapter 941, CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY

941.01 Negligent operation of vehicle. (1) Whoever endangers another’s safety by a high degree of negligence in the operation of a vehicle, not upon a highway as defined in s. 340.01, is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. (2) Upon conviction under sub. (1), no revocation or suspens…

941.10 Negligent handling of burning material. (1) Whoever handles burning material in a highly negligent manner is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. (2) Burning material is handled in a highly negligent manner if handled with criminal negligence under s. 939.25 or under circumsta…

941.11 Unsafe burning of buildings. Whoever does either of the following is guilty of a Class H felony: (1) Intentionally burns his or her own building under circumstances in which he or she should realize he or she is creating an unreasonable risk of death or great bodily harm t…

941.12 Interfering with fire fighting. (1) Whoever intentionally interferes with the proper functioning of a fire alarm system or the lawful efforts of fire fighters to extinguish a fire is guilty of a Class I felony. (2) Whoever interferes with, tampers with or removes, without …

941.13 False alarms. Whoever intentionally gives a false alarm to any public officer or employee, whether by means of a fire alarm system or otherwise, is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. History: 1977 c. 173. SUBCHAPTER III WEAPONS

941.20 Endangering safety by use of dangerous weapon. (1) Whoever does any of the following is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor: (a) Endangers another’s safety by the negligent operation or handling of a dangerous weapon. (b) Operates or goes armed with a firearm while he or she i…

941.21 Disarming an officer. (1) In this section: (a) “Correctional officer” means any of the following: 1. A person employed by the state or any political subdivision as a guard or officer whose duties are the supervision and discipline of inmates. 2. A juvenile correctional off…

941.23 Carrying concealed weapon. (1) In this section: (ag) “Carry” has the meaning given in s. 175.60 (1) (ag). (ap) Notwithstanding s. 939.22 (10), “dangerous weapon” does not include a knife. (ar) “Destructive device” has the meaning given in 18 USC 921 (a) (4). (b) “Firearm s…

941.231 Carrying a concealed knife. Any person who is prohibited from possessing a firearm under s. 941.29 who goes armed with a concealed knife that is a dangerous weapon is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. History: 2015 a. 149.

941.235 Carrying firearm in public building. (1) Any person who goes armed with a firearm in any building owned or leased by the state or any political subdivision of the state is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. (2) This section does not apply to any of the following: (a) Peace …

941.237 Carrying handgun where alcohol beverages may be sold and consumed. (1) In this section: (a) “Alcohol beverages” has the meaning given in s. 125.02 (1). (b) “Correctional officer” means any person employed by the state or any political subdivision as a guard or officer who…

941.25 Manufacturer to register machine guns. (1) In this section, “machine gun” means any of the following: (a) Any weapon that shoots, is designed to shoot or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of t…

941.26 Machine guns and other weapons; use in certain cases; penalty. (1c) In this section: (a) “CS gel” means nonatomizing, gel-form chlorobenzalmalononitrile. (b) “Machine gun” has the meaning given in s. 941.25 (1). (1g) (a) No person may sell, possess, use or transport any ma…

941.28 Possession of short-barreled shotgun or short-barreled rifle. (1) In this section: (a) “Rifle” means a firearm designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder or hip and designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of a pro…

941.29 Possession of a firearm. (1g) In this section: (a) “Violent felony” means any felony under s. 943.23 (1m), 1999 stats., s. 943.23 (1r), 1999 stats., s. 943.23 (1g), 2021 stats., s. 940.19, 2023 stats., s. 940.195, 2023 stats., s. 940.198, 2023 stats., s. 940.20, 2023 stats…

941.2905 Straw purchasing of firearms. (1) Whoever intentionally furnishes, purchases, or possesses a firearm for a person, knowing that the person is prohibited from possessing a firearm under s. 941.29 (1m), is guilty of a Class G felony. (2) The prohibition in sub. (1) against…

941.291 Possession of body armor. (1) DEFINITIONS. In this section: (a) “Body armor” means any garment that is designed, redesigned, or adapted to prevent bullets from penetrating through the garment. (b) “Violent felony” means any felony, or the solicitation, conspiracy, or atte…

941.292 Possession of a weaponized drone. (1) In this section, “drone” means a powered, aerial vehicle that does not carry a human operator, uses aerodynamic forces to provide vehicle lift, and can fly autonomously or be piloted remotely. A drone may be expendable or recoverable.…

941.295 Possession of electric weapon. (1c) In this section: (a) “Electric weapon” means any device which is designed, redesigned, used or intended to be used, offensively or defensively, to immobilize or incapacitate persons by the use of electric current. (b) “Licensee” has the…

941.296 Use or possession of a handgun and an armor-piercing bullet during crime. (1) In this section: (a) “Armor-piercing bullet” means a bullet meeting any of the following criteria: any projectile or projectile core that may be fired from any handgun and that is constructed en…

941.2965 Restrictions on use of facsimile firearms. (1) In this section, “facsimile firearm” means any replica, toy, starter pistol or other object that bears a reasonable resemblance to or that reasonably can be perceived to be an actual firearm. “Facsimile firearm” does not inc…

941.297 Sale or distribution of imitation firearms. (1) In this section, “look-alike firearm” means any imitation of any original firearm that was manufactured, designed and produced after December 31, 1897, including and limited to toy guns, water guns, replica nonguns, and air-…

941.298 Firearm silencers. (1) In this section, “firearm silencer” means any device for silencing, muffling or diminishing the report of a portable firearm, including any combination of parts, designed or redesigned, and intended for use in assembling or fabricating such a device…

941.299 Restrictions on the use of laser pointers. (1) In this section: (a) “Correctional officer” has the meaning given in s. 941.237 (1) (b). (b) “Laser pointer” means a hand-held device that uses light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation to emit a beam of light t…

941.30 Recklessly endangering safety. (1) FIRST-DEGREE RECKLESSLY ENDANGERING SAFETY. Whoever recklessly endangers another’s safety under circumstances which show utter disregard for human life is guilty of a Class F felony. (2) SECOND-DEGREE RECKLESSLY ENDANGERING SAFETY. Whoeve…

941.31 Possession of explosives. (1) Whoever makes, buys, transports, possesses, or transfers any explosive compound or offers to do the same, either with intent to use such explosive to commit a crime or knowing that another intends to use it to commit a crime, is guilty of a Cl…

941.315 Possession, distribution or delivery of nitrous oxide. (1) In this section: (a) “Deliver” or “delivery” means the actual, constructive or attempted transfer of nitrous oxide or a substance containing nitrous oxide from one person to another. (b) “Distribute” means to deli…

941.316 Abuse of hazardous substance. (1) In this section: (a) “Abuse” means to ingest, inhale, or otherwise introduce into the human body a hazardous substance in a manner that does not comply with any cautionary labeling that is required for the hazardous substance under s. 100…

941.32 Administering dangerous or stupefying drug. Whoever administers to another or causes another to take any poisonous, stupefying, overpowering, narcotic or anesthetic substance with intent thereby to facilitate the commission of a crime is guilty of a Class F felony. History…

941.325 Placing foreign objects in edibles. Whoever places objects, drugs or other substances in candy or other liquid or solid edibles with the intent to cause bodily harm to another person is guilty of a Class I felony. History: 1971 c. 72; 1977 c. 173; 1995 a. 410; 2001 a. 109…

941.327 Tampering with household products. (1) In this section: (a) “Cosmetic” means articles intended to be rubbed, poured, sprinkled or sprayed on, introduced into or otherwise applied to the human body or any part thereof for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness or…

941.33 Intentional destruction of vaccine or drug. (1) Whoever destroys, handles, stores, or treats a vaccine, drug, or any other biologic product used as a therapeutic treatment with intent to render the vaccine, drug, or product unsafe, tainted, spoiled, ineffective, or otherwi…

941.34 Fluoroscopic shoe-fitting machines. Whoever uses, or possesses or controls with intent to so use, any fluoroscopic or X-ray machine for the purpose of shoe-fitting or attempting to fit shoes, or who knowingly permits such machine, whether in use or not, to remain on his or…

941.35 Emergency telephone calls. (1) As used in this section: (a) “Emergency” means a situation in which property or human life are in jeopardy and the prompt summoning of aid is essential. (b) “Party line” means a subscriber’s line telephone circuit, consisting of 2 or more mai…

941.36 Fraudulent tapping of electric wires or gas or water meters or pipes. (1) Whoever, without permission and for the purpose of obtaining electrical current, gas or water with intent to defraud any vendor of electricity, gas or water by doing any of the following, is guilty o…

941.37 Obstructing emergency or rescue personnel. (1) In this section: (a) “Ambulance” has the meaning specified in s. 256.01 (1t). (b) “Authorized emergency vehicle” has the meaning specified in s. 340.01 (3). (c) “Emergency medical personnel” means an emergency medical services…

941.375 Throwing or discharging bodily fluids at public safety workers. (1) In this section: (a) “Ambulance” has the meaning specified in s. 256.01 (1t). (am) “Prosecutor” means any of the following: 1. A district attorney, a deputy district attorney, an assistant district attorn…

941.38 Criminal gang member solicitation and contact. (1) In this section: (a) “Child” means a person who has not attained the age of 18 years. (b) “Criminal gang activity” means the commission of, attempt to commit or solicitation to commit one or more of the following crimes, o…

941.39 Victim, witness, juror, or co-actor contact. Whoever intentionally violates a court order issued under s. 973.049 (2) is guilty of one of the following: (1) If the court order results from a conviction for a felony, a Class H felony. (2) If the court order results from a c…

941.40 Injury to wires by removal of building, etc.; tampering with telecommunication or electric wires. (1) Except as provided under sub. (4), any person having the right so to do who intentionally removes or changes any building or other structure or any timber, standing or fal…