Posted on 04/29/2003 9:26:09 PM PDT by jdege
Published April 30, 2003
Thanks for the anxiety
Let us hope the check that Sen. Pat Pariseau, R-Farmington, and the Minnesota Republican Party received from the National Rifle Association comforts them ("Conceal carry becomes law," April 29).
I know every time I board a Metro Transit bus, I will be worried about how many people are packing guns.
Greg Shockey, Minneapolis.
Less and more
Fewer teachers, fewer police officers, fewer firefighters, fewer roadside rest stops, fewer shelter beds, fewer Head Start kids, fewer bus trips, fewer library hours, fewer Meals on Wheels, fewer summer school kids, fewer state park hours. More guns.
Congratulations, Minnesota!
David L. Strand, St. Paul.
Going back in time
Gov. Tim Pawlenty should be awarded the Nobel Prize for physics. He has invented the time machine!
Last week, with a deft swipe of his pen, he signed the abortion bill and sent the entire state back to the year 1960. Now he has signed the concealed firearm bill, returning us all to 1860.
How long will it take to repair this damage and return state policy to something more suitable for the 21st century? So much for progress.
Greg Long, St. Paul.
Doing the NRA's work
I spent several hours in the gallery of the Minnesota Senate, watching debate on the conceal and carry bill.
To my surprise and dismay, the bill's chief sponsor, my own senator, Gen Olson, R-Minnetrista, seemed unfamiliar with her own bill. Several times she couldn't answer a question about what was contained in the bill, saying "I'm not a lawyer" -- an odd comment given that she was in the process of making law.
Other times she refused to answer at all or deferred to Sen. Pat Pariseau, whose responses were less than impressive. Were it not for the two young men who squatted beside them during debate, I wondered if the senators could have responded to questions at all.
Neither senator would or could state a single group that supported the bill (in contrast to the three-page list of opposing groups pointed to by other senators), but it was obvious who was in charge.
Half of the gallery was filled with stern-looking white males wearing yellow stickers. The National Rifle Association was watching.
But I was watching too, and it became clear that all Minnesotans need to watch their legislators more closely as bill after bill passes -- not with open, respectful debate, but with angry trickery in an atmosphere of fear and distrust.
It's a sorry state of affairs at the Capitol.
Nancy J. Berneking, Wayzata.
A new issue for prolifers
Now that the conceal and carry legislation has passed, I'm confident that the prolifers have begun their preparations for a whole new generation of posters and pamphlets, which they'll use while picketing gun shops and harassing potential gun buyers, showing human gun-shot victims at various stages of life: a child, a teenager, a spouse.
And if I don't see them picketing gun shops, then they will have shown themselves as the hypocrites I've always believed them to be.
B.L. Koeleman, Minneapolis.
Bought and paid for
It amazes me to think that so many of our lawmakers could think that allowing more people to carry guns was a good idea.
They seem to have overlooked the good chance that this will make our lives more dangerous and the fact that most Minnesotans were against this bill.
But then again, most Minnesotans are not getting money from the NRA either.
Dave Dressler, St. Peter, Minn.
Grateful for Pawlenty
Regarding the Personal Protection Act, Gov. Tim Pawlenty has once again displayed genuine leadership.
He understands that Minnesotans have a right to protect their homes and their families. And that's exactly what the Personal Protection Act gives them the ability to do.
The DFL should stop using scare tactics to mislead Minnesotans about this common-sense law.
It is issues like these that make me thankful that Gov. Pawlenty, not a liberal DFLer, is in office.
David Hutchinson, Apple Valley.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
In America, you have the absolute freedom of speech, but you are also responsible for your actions.
Each and every time a life is saved because of the new CCW law, I will personally remind these people of that fact.
It must be terrible, poor baby, going through life afraid of everything around you.
Oh, My!
I'm glad to know that I can send socialist pansies like this into a tizzy based solely on my facial expression.
BLOAT, cache and take names!
It must be terrible, poor baby, going through life afraid of everything around you.
Before this terrible law passed, he could be absolutely 100% sure no one on the bus had a gun. It's not like anyone would ever carry a gun illegally, right?
Ahhh, the liberal mindset.... "I felt so much safer when only the felons had guns."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.