cuchulainn
April 29, 2003, 09:50 AM
from the KSTP site
http://www.kstp.com/article/view/94731/Pawlenty signs handgun bill into law
Updated: 04-28-2003 10:55:11 PM
ST. PAUL (AP) - Gov. Tim Pawlenty approved a major overhaul of the state's handgun laws Monday night, following the Senate's approval of a long-sought concealed weapons bill.
Pawlenty, a Republican, signed the measure without comment. His signature made Minnesota the 35th state to adopt a law requiring sheriffs to give handgun permits to most law-abiding adults who seek them.
"Today is a wonderful day in that honest, law-abiding citizens will be able to protect themselves starting next month," said Joe Olson, president of Concealed Carry Reform Now, an organization formed in 1996 to push for such legislation. "Good people are going to be safer."
The bill, which passed the Senate 37-30, would allow more citizens to obtain the permits, but only if they are at least 21,
have had a background check and received mandatory training, which would be required every five years.
Critics of the bill - including leaders of the state's largest law enforcement groups - say putting more guns on the street is
inherently dangerous and that local authorities should have the discretion to deny permits for many reasons.
Opponents lined the marble steps leading to the Senate chamber Monday, carrying signs and hoping for a last-minute change of heart by a handful of lawmakers who might alter the expected outcome of the vote. They were disappointed.
"I think it's really sad," said Irene Boone, a 52-year-old freelance writer from Stillwater. "It's tragic. ... Guns do not
make people safer."
She worries most about accidental shootings and putting guns into the hands of people who are mentally unstable, but haven't been diagnosed as dangerous.
She watched the debate on a small television outside the Senate chamber as Sen. Wes Skoglund condemned the bill during the seven-and-a-half-hour debate, the longest on the Senate floor in recent memory.
"There are going to be people that are going to be shot because of this bill," said the Minneapolis DFLer, one of several people wearing a bulletproof vest. "People are going to die because of this bill. This bill is going to make Minnesota a far more dangerous place to live."
Sen. Dean Johnson, DFL-Willmar, appealed to Pawlenty, asking if this was the legacy he wanted.
"Is this the kind of issue you want to be remembered for? Having put all these guns on the streets of Minnesota?" Johnson
said.
Advocates of the legislation also waited outside the Senate chambers. It was the day they'd been awaiting for seven years - the moment when a majority of lawmakers agreed with them that Minnesotans are responsible enough to decide for themselves if they need a gun.
Now, most permits are issued by police chiefs, who have broad discretion over who they allow to carry a handgun. Applicants must demonstrate an occupational need or a threat to their safety.
Proponents of changing the law have long argued that permitting rules should be uniform, giving everyone an equal chance of getting one.
Joe DeSua, a 54-year-old Apple Valley man who is a member of CCRN and the National Rifle Association, said police had done "a terrible job" of using their discretion, prompting the need for such a change in the law.
Last year, nearly 90 percent of the 12,780 permits issued went to people outside the seven-county Twin Cities area, according to a Department of Public Safety study. A legislative study estimated that under the bill about to become law, about 90,000 Minnesotans would receive permits within three years.
Attempts to change the way permits are issued passed the GOP-led House in previous years, but had been narrowly defeated in the Senate, until now.
Sheriffs will be required to grant or deny a permit within 30 days. Applicants convicted of violent felonies, as well as some
mentally ill and chemically dependent people will be prohibited from getting a permit.
And a catch-all provision would allow sheriffs to deny a permit if believe there is a "substantial likelihood that the applicant
is a danger to himself or the public if given a permit." But anyone denied a permit will be able to get a speedy court appeal.
When the measure takes effect in a month, more people will be able to legally carry handguns in public places including city halls, recreation centers, parks, state and county fairgrounds, public convention centers, sports arenas and stadiums.
The state Capitol, courthouses, federal facilities, airports, prisons, jails and state hospitals already are off limits to guns
in most instances and the legislation would add K-12 schools, child care centers and school buses to the list.
Private businesses and churches could post signs to prohibit guns on their premises.
Several Democrats questioned a provision that would allow non-Minnesotans from getting a permit in Minnesota.
Sen. Jane Ranum suggested that because former football Hall of Famer O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murder after the 1994 slayings of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson, he could get a permit in Minnesota even though a civil jury later held him liable.
The bill's sponsor, Sen. Pat Pariseau, said there was no reason to worry about the bill's effects. "People are reasonable in this state," said Pariseau, R-Farmington. "I don't think we have a bunch of idiots in our state. Why do we mistrust our citizens so?"
The GOP-led House forced the bill onto the Senate floor by attaching it to an innocuous Department of Natural Resources bill last week - a maneuver that even some Republican senators criticized as they debated the bill.
©2003 Hubbard Broadcasting Inc
http://www.kstp.com/article/view/94731/Pawlenty signs handgun bill into law
Updated: 04-28-2003 10:55:11 PM
ST. PAUL (AP) - Gov. Tim Pawlenty approved a major overhaul of the state's handgun laws Monday night, following the Senate's approval of a long-sought concealed weapons bill.
Pawlenty, a Republican, signed the measure without comment. His signature made Minnesota the 35th state to adopt a law requiring sheriffs to give handgun permits to most law-abiding adults who seek them.
"Today is a wonderful day in that honest, law-abiding citizens will be able to protect themselves starting next month," said Joe Olson, president of Concealed Carry Reform Now, an organization formed in 1996 to push for such legislation. "Good people are going to be safer."
The bill, which passed the Senate 37-30, would allow more citizens to obtain the permits, but only if they are at least 21,
have had a background check and received mandatory training, which would be required every five years.
Critics of the bill - including leaders of the state's largest law enforcement groups - say putting more guns on the street is
inherently dangerous and that local authorities should have the discretion to deny permits for many reasons.
Opponents lined the marble steps leading to the Senate chamber Monday, carrying signs and hoping for a last-minute change of heart by a handful of lawmakers who might alter the expected outcome of the vote. They were disappointed.
"I think it's really sad," said Irene Boone, a 52-year-old freelance writer from Stillwater. "It's tragic. ... Guns do not
make people safer."
She worries most about accidental shootings and putting guns into the hands of people who are mentally unstable, but haven't been diagnosed as dangerous.
She watched the debate on a small television outside the Senate chamber as Sen. Wes Skoglund condemned the bill during the seven-and-a-half-hour debate, the longest on the Senate floor in recent memory.
"There are going to be people that are going to be shot because of this bill," said the Minneapolis DFLer, one of several people wearing a bulletproof vest. "People are going to die because of this bill. This bill is going to make Minnesota a far more dangerous place to live."
Sen. Dean Johnson, DFL-Willmar, appealed to Pawlenty, asking if this was the legacy he wanted.
"Is this the kind of issue you want to be remembered for? Having put all these guns on the streets of Minnesota?" Johnson
said.
Advocates of the legislation also waited outside the Senate chambers. It was the day they'd been awaiting for seven years - the moment when a majority of lawmakers agreed with them that Minnesotans are responsible enough to decide for themselves if they need a gun.
Now, most permits are issued by police chiefs, who have broad discretion over who they allow to carry a handgun. Applicants must demonstrate an occupational need or a threat to their safety.
Proponents of changing the law have long argued that permitting rules should be uniform, giving everyone an equal chance of getting one.
Joe DeSua, a 54-year-old Apple Valley man who is a member of CCRN and the National Rifle Association, said police had done "a terrible job" of using their discretion, prompting the need for such a change in the law.
Last year, nearly 90 percent of the 12,780 permits issued went to people outside the seven-county Twin Cities area, according to a Department of Public Safety study. A legislative study estimated that under the bill about to become law, about 90,000 Minnesotans would receive permits within three years.
Attempts to change the way permits are issued passed the GOP-led House in previous years, but had been narrowly defeated in the Senate, until now.
Sheriffs will be required to grant or deny a permit within 30 days. Applicants convicted of violent felonies, as well as some
mentally ill and chemically dependent people will be prohibited from getting a permit.
And a catch-all provision would allow sheriffs to deny a permit if believe there is a "substantial likelihood that the applicant
is a danger to himself or the public if given a permit." But anyone denied a permit will be able to get a speedy court appeal.
When the measure takes effect in a month, more people will be able to legally carry handguns in public places including city halls, recreation centers, parks, state and county fairgrounds, public convention centers, sports arenas and stadiums.
The state Capitol, courthouses, federal facilities, airports, prisons, jails and state hospitals already are off limits to guns
in most instances and the legislation would add K-12 schools, child care centers and school buses to the list.
Private businesses and churches could post signs to prohibit guns on their premises.
Several Democrats questioned a provision that would allow non-Minnesotans from getting a permit in Minnesota.
Sen. Jane Ranum suggested that because former football Hall of Famer O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murder after the 1994 slayings of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson, he could get a permit in Minnesota even though a civil jury later held him liable.
The bill's sponsor, Sen. Pat Pariseau, said there was no reason to worry about the bill's effects. "People are reasonable in this state," said Pariseau, R-Farmington. "I don't think we have a bunch of idiots in our state. Why do we mistrust our citizens so?"
The GOP-led House forced the bill onto the Senate floor by attaching it to an innocuous Department of Natural Resources bill last week - a maneuver that even some Republican senators criticized as they debated the bill.
©2003 Hubbard Broadcasting Inc