Posted on 02/22/2008 7:44:24 AM PST by jdege
Lawmakers hope to regulate private gun sales
A new bill introduced at the Capitol is aimed at existing Minnesota gun laws. Lawmakers want to close a loophole that allows anyone to buy guns at private sales without a background check.
The bill will be the first time that gun safety advocates have pushed for a new law that would make most gun sales similar to those that take place in licensed shops.
Minneapolis Councilman Don Samuels calls the gun issue a daily hazard.
"I hear automatic gunfire at night from my bedroom," said Samuels.
Some other lawmakers hope to reduce the threat everywhere. The plan is to make it tougher to purchase some guns at private sales.
"This is a very dangerous weapon. No ID, no background check or anything that went along with the purchase of a gun," Duluth Police Chief Gordon Ramsey said as he displayed a gun that was purchased through the loophole.
At gun stores, buyers will face a federal background check. At a gun show or garage sale, nothing is required.
The proposed bill targets handguns and assault weapons. Anyone buying one would need a permit and it would require all gun show transactions to be processed by a licensed gun dealer. Anyone purchasing a firearm would have to undergo a federal and local background check.
"Is it going to catch everything? Everyone? No. But it's a step in the right direction," said Edina Police Chief Michael Siitari.
Lawmakers hope to pass the bill by limiting its scope - for example, it wont impact the sale of shotguns.
Police admit that it will be tough to enforce the proposed law when it comes to Internet sales or private transactions between two neighbors, but it will still help.
The bill has to pass through committees before the legislature votes on it.
I don’t think funding of police departments has any correlation with crime rates. But I do agree with you about mass transit schemes and eco schemes. :)
BUT there is a correlation between police presence and crime reduction. So the solution to âautomatic weapons fire every nightâ is more cops on the street combined with aggressive prosecution of criminals not more laws.
Minneapolis has been short funding their cops and fire departments for years to fund feel good âprestigeâ projects.
They also are the nation's capitol of silly socialists Judges and stupid "rehabilitation" schemes. We have more violent felons walking around in this state because of the stupid weak prosecution team in Minneapolis backed up by really silly limousines liberal judges
LachlanMinnesota,
Do a YouTube search for Knob Creek. You will see there that fully automatic weapons are very alive and well in the good old U S of A despite all the regulations.
It's easy. The DFL is the majority party, again.
Of course we agree, but my “compromise” is a way to demonstrate that the goal is a confiscation database.
“I hear automatic gunfire at night from my bedroom,” said Samuels.
That’s cuz your TV is on and an action movie is playing silly
Actually there is no such thing as a dangerous weapon. There are only dangerous people.
Assault is a behavior, not a device.
I agree with you but I just thought it was hilarious to suggest that one gun is any more dangerous than another. They are tools and in the hands of a bad person, any gun can be dangerous because the bad person is dangerous...
There are no dangerous weapons. There are only dangerous people.
L
See post 31...
...automatic gunfire at night from my bedroom.
could just be the MPLS SWAT team raiding the wrong house again...
Just because NFA weapons are legal in some states doesn’t mean they’re legal in all.
Minnesota is a “Curio&Relic” state. The only MGs that can be legally owned by an individual here are those on the C&R list.
I have as much regard for such politicians as I do for cockroaches! As usual, the criminals won’t be affected such useless legislation.
The left is obsessed with seizing guns from LAW-ABIDING citizens, and leaving them in the hands of criminals.
Deliberately.
I seriously doubt it is in this lamebrain’s neighborhood. It would be helpful to know his address, but we never hear of automatic fire in Minnesota. That is the area to which I refer.
Automatic gunfire? Aren’t they already heavily regulated under Federal Law? Or did I miss the repeal?
You are right, I stand corrected. There are other circumstances under which machine guns (automatic weapons) may be owned than the purposes that I listed.) I relied on this law in Minnesota:
Minnesota Statutes § 609.67 MACHINE GUNS AND SHORT-BARRELED SHOTGUNS.
Subdivision 1. Definitions. (a) “Machine gun” means any firearm designed to discharge, or capable of discharging automatically more than once by a single function of the trigger.
(b) “Shotgun” means a weapon designed, redesigned, made or remade which is intended to be fired from the shoulder and uses the energy of the explosive in a fixed shotgun shell to fire through a smooth bore either a number of ball shot or a single projectile for each single pull of the trigger.
(c) “Short-barreled shotgun” means a shotgun having one or more barrels less than 18 inches in length and any weapon made from a shotgun if such weapon as modified has an overall length less than 26 inches.
(d) “Trigger activator” means a removable manual or power driven trigger activating device constructed and designed so that, when attached to a firearm, the rate at which the trigger may be pulled increases and the rate of fire of the firearm increases to that of a machine gun.
(e) “Machine gun conversion kit” means any part or combination of parts designed and intended for use in converting a weapon into a machine gun, and any combination of parts from which a machine gun can be assembled, but does not include a spare or replacement part for a machine gun that is possessed lawfully under section 609.67, subdivision 3.
Subd. 2. Acts prohibited. Except as otherwise provided herein, whoever owns, possesses, or operates a machine gun, any trigger activator or machine gun conversion kit, or a short-barreled shotgun may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than five years or to payment of a fine of not more than $10,000, or both.
Subd. 3. Uses permitted. The following persons may own or possess a machine gun or short-barreled shotgun provided the provisions of subdivision 4 are complied with:
(1) law enforcement officers for use in the course of their duties;
(2) chief executive officers of correctional facilities and other personnel thereof authorized by them and persons in charge of other institutions for the retention of persons convicted or accused of crime, for use in the course of their duties;
(3) persons possessing machine guns or short-barreled shotguns which, although designed as weapons, have been determined by the superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension or the superintendent’s delegate by reason of the date of manufacture, value, design or other characteristics to be primarily collector’s items, relics, museum pieces or objects of curiosity, ornaments or keepsakes, and are not likely to be used as weapons;
(4) manufacturers of ammunition who possess and use machine guns for the sole purpose of testing ammunition manufactured for sale to federal and state agencies or political subdivisions;
(5) dealers and manufacturers who are federally licensed to buy and sell, or manufacture machine guns or short-barreled shotguns and who either use the machine guns or short-barreled shotguns in peace officer training under courses approved by the Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training, or are engaged in the sale of machine guns or short-barreled shotguns to federal and state agencies or political subdivisions; and
(6) persons employed by the Minnesota National Guard as security guards, for use in accordance with applicable federal military regulations.
Subd. 4. Report required. (a) A person owning or possessing a machine gun or short-barreled shotgun as authorized by subdivision 3, clause (1), (2), (3), or (4) shall, within ten days after acquiring such ownership or possession, file a written report with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, showing the person’s name and address; the person’s official title and position, if any; a description of the machine gun or short-barreled shotgun sufficient to enable identification thereof; the purpose for which it is owned or possessed; and such further information as the bureau may reasonably require.(b) A dealer or manufacturer owning or having a machine gun or short-barreled shotgun as authorized by subdivision 3, clause (5) shall, by the tenth day of each month, file a written report with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension showing the name and address of the dealer or manufacturer and the serial number of each machine gun or short-barreled shotgun acquired or manufactured during the previous month.
Subd. 5. Exceptions. This section does not apply to members of the armed services of either the United States or the state of Minnesota for use in the course of their duties or to security guards employed by the Minnesota National Guard for use in accordance with applicable federal military regulations.
Subd. 6. Preemption. Laws 1977, chapter 255, supersedes all local ordinances, rules and regulations.
History: 1963 c 753 art 1 s 609.67; 1977 c 255 s 1,2; 1979 c 102 s 13; 1984 c 628 art 3 s 11; 1986 c 444; 1987 c 93 s 1,2; 1990 c 439 s 5; 1993 c 326 art 1 s 19,20; 1993 c 366 s 10; 2006 c 273 s 11,12
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