MILWAUKEE, Wis. (WTAQ) - Fond du Lac police officer Craig Birkholz – who was killed while responding to a sexual assault complaint – was praised at a ceremony in Milwaukee Wednesday.

State Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen mentioned Birkholz’s bravery during the annual Greater Milwaukee Law Enforcement Memorial ceremony. He and other speakers thanked officers and their families for their service. And they remembered Birkholz and the other 66 officers nationally who were killed in the line of duty so far this year.

Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn and District Attorney John Chisholm said people can support the police by asking their state legislators to regulate the access to guns by criminals.

Flynn said Wisconsin is the only state where it’s a misdemeanor to possess an illegal firearm, no matter how many times a person is caught. The chief said a half-dozen Milwaukee officers have been wounded by guns bought for criminals by somebody else at the same gun shop. And yet, he said “straw purchases” of guns remains a misdemeanor.