Drizzt
June 2, 2003, 11:35 PM
Saint Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota)
June 1, 2003 Sunday
SECTION: LOCAL; Pg. 8B
LENGTH: 553 words
HEADLINE: HANDGUN LAW: Recent crime spree prompts debate
BYLINE: BY AMY SHERMAN; Pioneer Press
BODY:
For months, Minnesota has debated the wisdom of letting more people carry guns. On Wednesday night, a woman driving home in Lake Elmo was shot by a stranger who then robbed another woman of her van at gunpoint.
If either victim had been armed, would the suspect be lying in the hospital rather than the innocent woman?
Those on opposite sides of the new gun law say it's impossible to answer that question.
"It's an ambush," said Apple Valley Police Chief Scott Johnson. "I would not think a handgun would help. If someone just drives up and shoots you, if you had a bazooka I don't think it would have helped."
The shooting occurred just hours after a new law went into effect that will make it easier for Minnesotans to obtain gun permits. The shooting raises questions about whether having more armed citizens will prevent such crimes, make the state more dangerous or have little impact.
The best self-defense, some experts say, is to be aware of your surroundings. But Julie Bever, 42, likely had no reason to be on the lookout when returning home from her daughter's softball game at about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Washington County Sheriff Jim Frank said he doesn't believe Bever would have had the chance to shoot. Even a trained police officer may not have had time to react to a stranger "bolting out of the weeds."
"I doubt I ever would have had the chance to get my own weapon out," he said.
But State Rep. Lynda Boudreau, R-Faribault, wonders what would have happened if an armed bystander could have intervened.
"We have found in other states, they happen in different ways, simply just saying, 'I'm a permitted carrier,' you warn people. It's often just a deterrent," she said. "Certainly without a firearm to equalize the balance no one is going to intervene."
John Caile, spokesman for Minnesota Concealed Carry Reform, Now!, says gun permits are not a panacea -- just one more tool for self-defense and deterrence.
"Here's one question: Had the law been in effect for a year and had it been widely known that a fair number of Minnesotans had permits would he have been so bold to feel he would be completely unchallenged?" Caile asked. Criminals feel free to be violent, he said, because they know few citizens carry guns.
Bill Fleischman, a sociology professor at University of Minnesota-Duluth, says he doesn't think the law will deter violent crime, just as the death penalty hasn't.
"I don't buy the argument that this is really going to cause people to think twice (before they commit a crime), that they are going to be so analytical it's going to have a high deterrent effect," he said.
The Stillwater woman whose van was taken said the incident has made her think about getting a gun, although she has a hard time imagining using one. She asked that her name not be used out of fear that the suspect might find her.
"I live out in the country. My husband sometimes works evening hours. I'm by myself," she said. "I tend to be scared of guns. I don't know how to use them. I'm not sure I want to know how to use them. But after what happened to me, it gives me pause to want to think through things when I'm more rational."
June 1, 2003 Sunday
SECTION: LOCAL; Pg. 8B
LENGTH: 553 words
HEADLINE: HANDGUN LAW: Recent crime spree prompts debate
BYLINE: BY AMY SHERMAN; Pioneer Press
BODY:
For months, Minnesota has debated the wisdom of letting more people carry guns. On Wednesday night, a woman driving home in Lake Elmo was shot by a stranger who then robbed another woman of her van at gunpoint.
If either victim had been armed, would the suspect be lying in the hospital rather than the innocent woman?
Those on opposite sides of the new gun law say it's impossible to answer that question.
"It's an ambush," said Apple Valley Police Chief Scott Johnson. "I would not think a handgun would help. If someone just drives up and shoots you, if you had a bazooka I don't think it would have helped."
The shooting occurred just hours after a new law went into effect that will make it easier for Minnesotans to obtain gun permits. The shooting raises questions about whether having more armed citizens will prevent such crimes, make the state more dangerous or have little impact.
The best self-defense, some experts say, is to be aware of your surroundings. But Julie Bever, 42, likely had no reason to be on the lookout when returning home from her daughter's softball game at about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Washington County Sheriff Jim Frank said he doesn't believe Bever would have had the chance to shoot. Even a trained police officer may not have had time to react to a stranger "bolting out of the weeds."
"I doubt I ever would have had the chance to get my own weapon out," he said.
But State Rep. Lynda Boudreau, R-Faribault, wonders what would have happened if an armed bystander could have intervened.
"We have found in other states, they happen in different ways, simply just saying, 'I'm a permitted carrier,' you warn people. It's often just a deterrent," she said. "Certainly without a firearm to equalize the balance no one is going to intervene."
John Caile, spokesman for Minnesota Concealed Carry Reform, Now!, says gun permits are not a panacea -- just one more tool for self-defense and deterrence.
"Here's one question: Had the law been in effect for a year and had it been widely known that a fair number of Minnesotans had permits would he have been so bold to feel he would be completely unchallenged?" Caile asked. Criminals feel free to be violent, he said, because they know few citizens carry guns.
Bill Fleischman, a sociology professor at University of Minnesota-Duluth, says he doesn't think the law will deter violent crime, just as the death penalty hasn't.
"I don't buy the argument that this is really going to cause people to think twice (before they commit a crime), that they are going to be so analytical it's going to have a high deterrent effect," he said.
The Stillwater woman whose van was taken said the incident has made her think about getting a gun, although she has a hard time imagining using one. She asked that her name not be used out of fear that the suspect might find her.
"I live out in the country. My husband sometimes works evening hours. I'm by myself," she said. "I tend to be scared of guns. I don't know how to use them. I'm not sure I want to know how to use them. But after what happened to me, it gives me pause to want to think through things when I'm more rational."