Free Republic

Editorial: State's gun law is in trouble, again September 14, 2005 Twice the Minnesota Legislature has passed, and Gov. Tim Pawlenty has signed, laws requiring that law-abiding, safety-trained adult Minnesotans be licensed to carry concealed weapons if they choose. Twice, advocates of this law have overreached in trying to force the law's power where it doesn't belong. Twice, they've lost in court. [...] This is an unnecessary fight; when the law was being reintroduced this year, its proponents were asked to give churches the power to ban guns from all their lands and buildings, and the flexibility they sought in...

Concealed carry bill is based on myths JOHN SEE State Sen. Dave Zien is introducing another concealed weapons bill, the purpose of which is to encourage people to carry loaded handguns in public places. Zien, an Eau Claire Republican, claims this will save lives by scaring off criminals. But in fact, it might do just the opposite. Anything that increases gun ownership has risks. If you love your kids, you'd better listen up. A recent study at Harvard University found that among children between the ages of 5 and 14, the percentage of gun deaths from homicide, suicide or accident...

Judge sides with churches on conceal-carry law Minnesota churches deserve an exemption from a state law requiring them to either post a sign or verbally inform people that concealed handguns aren't allowed on their property, a judge has ruled. Hennepin County District Judge LaJune Thomas Lange granted two Twin Cities churches a temporary injunction Friday, the first legal blow to a 2005 law that was passed after an earlier version stumbled in the courts. "The 2005 Act impermissibly intrudes into the free exercise of religion by arbitrary definitions, which dictate restrictions on the use of church property for worship, childcare,...

Editorial: It's baaack. Make it go away From the Journal Sentinel Posted: Sept. 7, 2005 Last time around, the state Senate showed appalling disregard for public safety and the Assembly only slightly less so. This time, with Milwaukee's homicide rate approaching a record pace, we're hoping some modicum of propriety, leadership and common sense takes hold. The issue is a renewed effort to enact a law allowing Wisconsinites to carry concealed weapons. This is a bill that should simply go away. More than 80% of Milwaukee's killings this year were the result of gunfire. So, more guns - what a...

Assessing progress: Global efforts to prevent small arms proliferation Switzerland - July 8 2005 Press Release - International Committee of the Red Cross ICRC (Geneva) – Governments, international organizations and NGOs will meet in New York from 11-15 July to assess progress made in four years of implementing the UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects. Participants are also expected to begin identifying ways of strengthening the Programme of Action when it is formally reviewed in 2006. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)...

Catching up on Minnesota gun permits Conrad Defiebre, Star Tribune June 26, 2005 Hundreds of prospective gun-toters have lined up at sheriff's offices around Minnesota in a new rush for handgun permits since they became widely available again one month ago. According to a state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension database, 932 permit applications have been filed since the state's 2003 handgun law, suspended for nearly a year by court rulings, went back on the books May 25. [...] "We're seeing a little surge now," said Dakota County sheriff's Capt. Jeff Schwartz. "It was starting to wind down before." Dakota County...

Vikings Make 'Mistake' With Handgun Jun 10, 2005 7:37 am US/Central (WCCO) Two stars of the Minnesota Vikings made an embarrassing, but possibly dangerous mistake Thursday, involving a handgun. Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper and running back Michael Bennett said they had planned to do some target practicing. They had rented a car, but when they returned the car, they forgot to take the handgun out of the car. The two were caught having to explain the situation to the rental company and police. Culpepper actually rented and retuned the car, but he had to call Bennett to come have him...

A New Beginning? By David Ignatius Wednesday, May 25, 2005; Page A27 This week's Great Compromise over judicial nominations emerged thanks in part to a meeting that sounds a bit as if it took place in a wax museum. It was an atavistic scene that evoked the musty traditions of the Senate, but it also embodied the spirit of sweet reason the country needs now to solve its problems. Gathered in an office just below the Senate floor last Thursday were two venerable, white-haired politicians clinging to the vanishing center: Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, 87, and Republican...

Pawlenty Signs Conceal-Carry Bill into Law Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Tuesday signed a bill that allows easier statewide access to handgun permits. The law, which restores an identical 2003 measure that was struck down by the courts, takes effect immediately. The so-called conceal-carry law allows law-abiding people over the age of 21, to get a gun permit as long as they have a clean record, no mental illness and proper safety training. Several state courts struck down the 2003 law, citing the unusual procedure by which it was passed in the Legislature. Lawmakers moved quickly this year to re-pass it...

Here we go again on concealed carry With the concealed carry legislation through both chambers of the state Legislature and headed to Gov. Tim Pawlenty's desk for his signature, advocates of the measure are celebrating. Not so fast. While we agree with the measure in principle and the purer legislative means by which it was passed, there are some provisions that are causing us some concern. One is the clause that says landlords cannot deny tenants the right to carry. Hamline law professor Joe Olson, one of the principals in Concealed Carry Reform Now, the group that pushed for the...

Handgun Bill Goes To The Governor May 18, 2005 12:59 pm US/Central St. Paul (AP) A bill allowing more law-abiding Minnesotans to legally carry a handgun easily passed the House on Wednesday and now goes to Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who said he will sign it. The Republican-controlled House voted 86-47 to reinstate the so-called conceal-carry law, which has been overturned by the courts. The 2003 law allowed adults with a clean record, no mental illness and proper training to get a permit to carry a gun. After the courts struck down the law, citing the procedure by which it was...

Nye's shooting suspect charged Kevin Duchschere, Star Tribune May 17, 2005 A Minneapolis man fatally shot restaurant doorman Billy Walsh four times in the back after the suspect had been tossed out and pestered Walsh to get back in, according to criminal charges filed Monday. [...] The homicide, Minneapolis' 18th of the year, has drawn special attention because Ourada is believed to be the first Minnesota gun permit holder charged with murder since the state's 2003 permit-to-carry law went into effect. The law required sheriffs to issue permits to people trained to use a pistol safely and not prohibited from...

Gun bill a slam dunk in Senate Conceal-carry measure goes to the House BY RACHEL E. STASSEN-BERGER Pioneer Press In a solid win for pro-gun forces, the Minnesota Senate passed a measure Friday that would allow nearly all law-abiding citizens to get permits to carry loaded handguns in public. The 44-21 vote likely clears the way for the Minnesota House to pass the bill early next week and send it to the governor for his signature. Lawmakers first passed the measure, alternatively called the conceal-carry bill or the Personal Protection Act, in 2003, but the state Appeals Court last month...

Senate Approves Bill To Restore Gun Bill Struck Down By Courts May 13, 2005 6:13 pm US/Central St. Paul (AP) Gun control advocates in the Senate got an opportunity they were denied two years ago, as they tried -- but ultimately failed -- to set stricter limits on who can carry a handgun in public as their fellow lawmakers voted to revive a court-overturned 2003 gun permit law. "I will not be silenced on this bill and I will not hesitate to point out what a terrible bill it is," said Sen. Wes Skoglund, DFL-Minneapolis, even as a bipartisan group...

A gun bill everyone should be able to back With debates raging at the Legislature over reauthorizing the Minnesota Personal Protection Act and efforts to create Minnesota's own assault-weapon ban, we're happy to report on a gun issue we think most reasonable people can agree on. Earlier this week, the Senate Judiciary committee hammered out what we think are some common-sense proposals for the regulation of gun ranges. For those of you living in the city center, this has been an ongoing and increasingly intense battle as the suburbs push from the outer ring into formerly rural communities. For the...

Straight Shooting on Gun Control A Reason debate Abigail A. Kohn, Don B. Kates, Wendy Kaminer, and Michael I. Krauss When it comes to rancorous debates in which the two sides routinely talk past each other, gun control ranks up there with abortion and the death penalty. Last year Abigail A. Kohn, an anthropologist trained at the University of California at San Francisco, bravely waded into this battle with Shooters: Myths and Realities of America’s Gun Cultures (Oxford University Press). A sympathetic portrait of gun enthusiasts in Northern California, the book ends with a plea for a calmer discussion of...

More guns no answer to public safety problems HEATHER MARTENS Mark Yost, the Pioneer Press' staff mouthpiece for the National Rifle Association, has surprised nobody by stating that any law restricting guns is bad. Last week, his case in point (column, April 26) was the assault weapons ban, which expired in September. I agree with Yost on one issue — that the assault weapons ban was imperfect. The criminal use of banned weapons dropped during the ban. But the criminal use of non-banned assault-type weapons increased. Yost's solution to an imperfect law with loopholes is … you guessed it. Loosen...

From: CCRN_ComCenter@mnccrn.org To: All_CCRN_members Subject: *** ALERT IMMEDIATE ATTENTION NEEDED *** - Report Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 00:18:39 -0400 (EDT) MPPA 2 Update and other messages A bill so nice we will pass it twice. Today the Rules committee passed the MPPA re-enactment legislation on to the Senate calendar. At this point it can be taken up at any time. We suspect that it will be next week because we are told that the financing bills come first. At this time the Senate is going through one of them per day. There are seven. The bill reported out of...

Heather Martens: Gun-permit proposal's back, packing few facts Heather Martens May 4, 2005 Here we go again. Conceal and carry is back! There have been a few changes in rhetoric since 2003, when the law passed allowing just about anybody with a pulse to get a permit to carry a gun in every corner of the state. It was thrown out in court because of the way it was passed. But now it's back, as if nothing was learned the first time around. [...] Well, these guys didn't win any debate points, but they are still winning. Right now, they...