It took the longest debate in memory on
the floor of the Minnesota Senate, but a bill to make
permits to carry handguns in public available to more
people gained final legislative approval Monday and was
signed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. It
is to go into effect in 30 days. Eventually, according
to an official legislative estimate, it could increase
the number of people licensed to tote guns on Minnesota
streets from fewer than 12,000 now to about 90,000.
For 7 1/2 hours Monday, Senate DFLers
railed against the measure and the parliamentary
legerdemain that brought it directly from the House with
no opportunity for Senate amendments. Six DFL senators
even donned bulletproof vests as they denounced the bill
as "insanity," "lunacy" and "sheer madness."
The bill's Republican sponsors, led by
Sen. Pat Pariseau of Farmington, dismissed the protests
as fear-mongering and doomsday predictions, maintaining
that 34 other states have adopted similar measures
without catastrophic consequences.
Sen. Pariseau listens to Sen.
Olson defend handgun bill.
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Jim Mone
Associated Press |
"If I want to have a gun in my purse,
that should be my choice, not the sheriff's," said Sen.
Julianne Ortman, R-Chanhassen.
In the end, a small group of outstate
DFL senators who favor gun rights bucked their
leadership's opposition and tipped the balance in favor
of the bill. The vote for final passage was 37 to 30.
What comes next is a sweeping reversal
of Minnesota handgun policy that has been in effect
since 1975. Under that system, police chiefs and
sheriffs have had broad discretion to grant or deny
permits for occupational needs or personal protection.
In some areas, especially the Twin
Cities, critics say, authorities have abused that
discretion by denying permits to nearly all applicants.
Under the new system, sheriffs will be
required to issue permits to all applicants 21 or older
who meet largely objective standards of U.S. citizenship
or permanent residency, handgun safety training and a
criminal and mental health background check.
Supporters
vs. foes
The bill's final victory defied formal
opposition from more than 300 churches and other groups
in Minnesota, including the three major statewide police associations, city councils, and health and education groups.
According to senators on both sides of
the issue, the bill was supported by only three
organizations: the National Rifle Association (NRA), a
local group called Concealed Carry Reform Now! and the
Republican Party of Minnesota. But Pariseau said many
individuals and street police officers also back the
legislation.
She counted thousands of violent
crimes in the 20 Minnesota counties where handgun
permits have been most restricted and added: "It's time
that we allow people to prevent the violence on
themselves."
DFLers responded with statistics of
their own: Minnesota now stands eighth-lowest in the
nation in the rate of firearm deaths from homicide,
suicide and accident. All of the states with better
rates have gun laws similar to the one Minnesota is
abandoning. The dozen states with the highest rates of
firearm deaths all have the system Minnesota is
adopting.
"This state will forever be changed,
and not for the positive," said Sen. Dean Johnson, DFL-Willmar,
a Lutheran pastor. "What are we scared of? Why are we so
fearful? Why should violence beget violence? I'm
supposed to arm myself and get even? It does not make
any sense to me."
In addition, the House Republican
tactic of amending the measure onto an unrelated bill
previously passed by the Senate was branded "a conceal
and carry approach to legislation" by Sen. Scott Dibble,
DFL-Minneapolis.
The procedure meant that DFLers could
criticize but not change details of the bill that they
said made it worse than similar laws in many other
states. For example, critics said, public parks,
playgrounds, city halls and the State Fair may not bar
guns from their premises, while malls and churches face
a cumbersome process of posting signs and verbally
informing licensed gun-carriers that their firearms
aren't welcome.
"I wouldn't worry about honest people
next to me in church carrying guns," said Sen. Michael
Jungbauer, R-East Bethel, a graduate of Moody Bible
Institute. "But I would worry about the criminals."
Sen. Jane Ranum, DFL-Minneapolis, said
the bill's lack of a Minnesota residency requirement
will make the state a magnet for gun-lovers from the
handgun-restrictive neighboring states of Wisconsin,
Iowa and Illinois.
"This bill was written by the gun
industry and it's all about their profits," she said.
"The Midwest is the one place they haven't infiltrated
yet. This will make Minnesota the place to come and get
your gun."
Ranum also criticized the bill's
limits on evidence of applicants' dangerousness that
sheriffs may consider in deciding whether to issue
permits. For example, alleged crimes that a person has
been acquitted of cannot be factored in.
That means a sheriff could not weigh
any of the evidence presented in the murder trial of O.J.
Simpson should he seek a permit, Ranum said.
"O.J. Simpson was not seeking a
permit," Pariseau replied. "But maybe his wife needed
one."
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