Posted on 01/14/2005 6:42:01 AM PST by Rakkasan1
Lawmakers didn't dupe the voters when they passed the state's controversial conceal-and-carry gun law as part of a natural resources bill, Attorney General Mike Hatch told the Minnesota Court of Appeals on Thursday.
The gun bill generated more media attention and debate than any other measure during the 2003 legislative session, and lawmakers correctly tied the conceal-and-carry bill to rules on snowmobiles, fish houses and parks fees because they were all government regulation of potentially hazardous devices, Hatch explained.
For those reasons, Hatch argued, the three-judge panel should resurrect the weapons law thrown out six months ago by a Ramsey County District Court judge who said the state Constitution limits bills to a single subject.
That limit is no mere technicality, countered the lawyer representing those challenging the law.
But Hatch said the appeals court should reinstate the gun law — and dump the natural resources portions — if they decide passage of conceal-and-carry violated the single-subject rule.
The judges will rule on the fate of the gun law within 90 days.
More than 25,000 permits were issued under the 2003 conceal-and-carry law until Judge John Finley invalidated the law last July. Law enforcement agencies have been instructed to issue permits under the previous law until the court rules.
(Excerpt) Read more at twincities.com ...
So? What is the law?
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