As a candidate for governor, Scott Walker expressed support for shooting ranges when he promised to establish laws protecting them from "frivolous lawsuits.”

Walker did not, as he indicated he would, produce a law that targets gun ranges. But he has taken other steps.

In January 2011, Walker signed a bill to make it more difficult to win damage awards in civil suits.

The Wisconsin Civil Justice Council, a business coalition that lobbies for tighter lawsuit controls, had pushed the measure, saying it would reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits against businesses generally. It cited a part of the law allows courts to hold a party liable for costs for frivolous claims.

Randall Reinhardt, a personal injury attorney in Milwaukee, told us that provision has only minimal impact. It would only discourage a person not represented by a lawyer from filing a marginal or frivolous claim. Lawyers already faced the possibility of sanctions for filing a frivolous claim -- one deemed by a judge to be without merit, he said.

Walker spokesman Tom Evenson also cited as a benefit to gun ranges another 2011 law signed by the governor, which makes it more difficult for a trespassers to collect damages if they are injured while trespassing.

Our rating

Walker singled out shooting ranges in promising to adopt laws to protect them from what he described as frivolous lawsuits. Two bills he signed offer some protection to businesses generally. We rate this promise as a Compromise.