Posted on 12/02/2004 8:58:43 AM PST by neverdem
I hold a Minnesota permit to carry a handgun. I see people write in to the paper all the time, attacking the issue of "conceal and carry," obviously having done little to no research on the subject. Simple facts are all that is needed to help clarify this somewhat controversial issue.
Neither the 2003 Minnesota Citizens Personal Protection Act nor the old gun law differentiated between open and concealed carry of a handgun. However, out of consideration for non-permit holders, as well as for tactical reasons, most of us conceal our weapons.
The MPPA did not allow everyone to carry everywhere in the state, as some people assumed. Strictly off-limits places for any permit holder included schools and day care facilities, federal buildings such as post offices, and correctional facilities, just to name a few.
Under the MPPA, any business that verbally informed its customers and posted signs reading that it "bans guns on these premises" was able to ban guns on its property. Owners of private property were allowed in any lawful manner to ban handguns from their property as well.
In addition, the MPPA placed a lifetime ban on convicted felons who wanted to obtain a permit to carry. Ineligible people convicted of other crimes listed in the statutes were weeded out with background checks. Even if you were not convicted of a crime, you could still have been denied a permit, if law enforcement found good reason to do so.
Of course, one needed to be a permit holder or prospective permit holder to have to worry about most of this and the MPPA required any Minnesotan wanting a permit to be at least 21 years old, have proper identification and a clean record. In addition, he or she needed to pay at least $75 for training by a certified instructor, and pay the permit application fee, which was for most Minnesotans the MPPA-allowed maximum of $100.
For certain, the MPPA was a good thing since, under the old law, there was no provision for drinking while carrying and one could carry in schools. Applicants needed only to be 18 years old, and special training was not required to apply. In addition, the signs banning handguns now mean nothing in the eyes of the state, as the old law did not have a provision on that issue either.
The Minnesota Citizens Personal Protection Act was created and signed into law by hardworking honest Minnesota men and women with families and jobs, just like you and me. They represented all the law-abiding Minnesotans who wanted a better way to protect themselves and their families, and did a wonderful job in working for the people of this state.
For now, the work of the originators of the 2003 MPPA appears to be for naught, after a Ramsey County district judge ruled the law unconstitutional in August. However, our permits still remain valid, and the Minnesota Citizens Personal Protection Act has set precedent and laid the foundation for future attempts at a new law, which will likely be next year.
The Second Amendment clearly states that "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." This aside, the right to self-defense has been recognized since the beginning of civilization. It is a God-given right to be able to defend these lives of ours, and since crime and criminals will never go away, we should be allowed to defend ourselves instead of having to become victims and statistics.
Minnesota permit holders are your co-workers and friends, your neighbors and family members and, yes, even that person you stand behind in line at the grocery store. We have proved ourselves worthy enough to law enforcement to be issued a permit and caused few problems since even before the MPPA existed. We permit holders have earned Minnesota's trust, and I hope one day we will be treated as equals. Respecting others — isn't it the "Minnesota Nice" thing to do?
Stack, of Apple Valley, is a hunter, shooter, gun owner and member of several conservation groups.
Minnesota Citizens Personal Protection Act: www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/stats/624/714.html
BANG
I carry in FL. I would feel better walking into a restaurant or onto a plane where everyone was carrying, instead of just the 'bad guys'. It would be a site to behold if that happened and one guy gets up and yells "Allah is God!!!"
Go Angela !
We need it in WI as well...
Had the Businessmen who were murdered while deer hunting been carrying handguns
some may have had a chance against their murderer...had three or four began firing back
the killer may have very well fled for his life...
Murdering unarmed people is a lot easier than people who can defend themselves...
Didn't you almost have it? What's the chance with a new legislature, assuming they were up for re-election this year?
The article only lists ways in which the new law is MORE restrictive than the old. If carry were already that legal, why was a new law needed, and why was this particular law, being so much more restrictive than the old, popular with gun owners? There must be SOME advantage to the new law.
The new law is (was) a "shall issue" law where anyone who qualified, must be issued a permit.
The old law was up to the discretion (read discrimination) of local sheriffs, and therefore usually quite hard to obtain.
Ah, got it, thank you.
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