Drizzt
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Duluth News-Tribune
January 8, 2003 Wednesday
SECTION: LOC
LENGTH: 791 words
HEADLINE: Marchers lobby Capitol to protect gun control;
FIREARMS: A group of Northland mothers concerned about gun safety lobby lawmakers on the first day of Minnesota's Legislative session.
BYLINE: BY SCOTT THISTLE; NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
BODY:
ST. PAUL - Standing on the steps to the Minnesota Senate chamber Tuesday, seven Duluth moms joined about 50 others from across the state to show their opposition to changing the way permits for concealed guns are issued.
Members of the Million Mom March, an organization that supports gun control, worry that lawmakers will make it easier this session for more people to carry hidden guns in public places.
Current law lets local police chiefs and sheriffs decide who can carry a concealed firearm based on need or occupation, but advocates for gun rights say those decisions are often arbitrary and want permits issued uniformly. Failed legislation, proposed in 2002, would have required sheriffs and police chiefs to issue a concealed firearms permit to anyone who applies for one and is cleared after a criminal-background check.
"As American citizens, we ought not have to prove we have a need to exercise a right protected in the Constitution," said Bob Gibson, a member of Concealed Carry Reform Now. "Until you are proven to be a bad person by conviction of felony violence, the right to protect yourself ought not be jeopardized."
But a criminal-background check isn't enough protection for members of the Million Mom March, such as Gail Schoenfelder, of Duluth. A criminal-background check wouldn't prevent a person convicted of domestic violence or someone with mental illness from receiving a permit, Schoenfelder said.
"This change isn't just for people who want permits but would affect everybody in our community because they would have to be exposed to loaded handguns in public," she said.
Citizens carrying handguns to sporting events, church services and even city council meetings could become the norm, Schoenfelder said.
The Million Mom marchers are particularly opposed to changing the wording of state law, which says sheriffs or police chiefs "may" issue a permit, to say they "shall" issue a permit.
Senators from Northeastern Minnesota are split on the issue; some say the state needs a uniform permitting law not dependent on varying levels of local discretion.
"I'm on the concealed carry side," said Sen. David Tomassoni, DFL-Chisholm. "Right now it's all in the sheriff's interpretation of the law."
But the concealed carry issue isn't high on Tomassoni's and other lawmakers' list of worries, especially with the state facing a $4.5 billion budget crisis, he said.
Gay Trachsel, another member of the Million Mom March from Duluth, said changing the permitting law is a budget issue because it's estimated a change would lead to 50,000 new permits the first year it goes into effect. And the cost of that permitting responsibility would likely fall to city and county governments, Trachsel said.
"We think this is a huge budget issue," Trachsel said.
Other Northland senators, including Yvonne Prettner Solon, DFL-Duluth, and Becky Lourey, DFL-Kerrick, said they support the marchers' position, which is also supported by the Minnesota Police Chiefs Association and the Minnesota Sheriffs Association.
Lourey and Prettner Solon said they support sporting firearms for hunting but more concealed handguns on the street would lead to more gun violence -- and more cost to government.
"If someone was abusive or beating their spouse, I would still have to give them a permit under this change," Lourey said.
Concealed carry is the only gun issue she disagrees with the National Rifle Association over, Lourey said. But the organization still gave her a grade of F in its annual review of state lawmakers, she said.
Prettner Solon, a practicing psychologist, said those with mental health problems would also slip through a criminal-background check. She worries that the loss of local permitting discretion might also contribute to more impulsive suicides and more domestic violence.
"We are a very violent society, and I think something has to be done to stem that tide," Prettner Solon said.
Retiring Duluth Police Chief Scott Lyons and newly elected St. Louis County Sheriff Ross Litman have said changing the law is a bad idea.
"The way the proposed legislation is worded, there are people out there on the fringe who would not be disqualified from carrying a concealed weapon," Litman said.
Newly elected Sen. Tom Saxhaug, DFL-Grand Rapids, said he would probably support changing the law for a uniform permitting standard, but wording the law so gun-control advocates and gun-rights supporters find common ground would be very difficult.
"It's something that needs careful tinkering and a heavy-duty discussion, and what it gets down to is wording," Saxhaug said.
January 8, 2003 Wednesday
SECTION: LOC
LENGTH: 791 words
HEADLINE: Marchers lobby Capitol to protect gun control;
FIREARMS: A group of Northland mothers concerned about gun safety lobby lawmakers on the first day of Minnesota's Legislative session.
BYLINE: BY SCOTT THISTLE; NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
BODY:
ST. PAUL - Standing on the steps to the Minnesota Senate chamber Tuesday, seven Duluth moms joined about 50 others from across the state to show their opposition to changing the way permits for concealed guns are issued.
Members of the Million Mom March, an organization that supports gun control, worry that lawmakers will make it easier this session for more people to carry hidden guns in public places.
Current law lets local police chiefs and sheriffs decide who can carry a concealed firearm based on need or occupation, but advocates for gun rights say those decisions are often arbitrary and want permits issued uniformly. Failed legislation, proposed in 2002, would have required sheriffs and police chiefs to issue a concealed firearms permit to anyone who applies for one and is cleared after a criminal-background check.
"As American citizens, we ought not have to prove we have a need to exercise a right protected in the Constitution," said Bob Gibson, a member of Concealed Carry Reform Now. "Until you are proven to be a bad person by conviction of felony violence, the right to protect yourself ought not be jeopardized."
But a criminal-background check isn't enough protection for members of the Million Mom March, such as Gail Schoenfelder, of Duluth. A criminal-background check wouldn't prevent a person convicted of domestic violence or someone with mental illness from receiving a permit, Schoenfelder said.
"This change isn't just for people who want permits but would affect everybody in our community because they would have to be exposed to loaded handguns in public," she said.
Citizens carrying handguns to sporting events, church services and even city council meetings could become the norm, Schoenfelder said.
The Million Mom marchers are particularly opposed to changing the wording of state law, which says sheriffs or police chiefs "may" issue a permit, to say they "shall" issue a permit.
Senators from Northeastern Minnesota are split on the issue; some say the state needs a uniform permitting law not dependent on varying levels of local discretion.
"I'm on the concealed carry side," said Sen. David Tomassoni, DFL-Chisholm. "Right now it's all in the sheriff's interpretation of the law."
But the concealed carry issue isn't high on Tomassoni's and other lawmakers' list of worries, especially with the state facing a $4.5 billion budget crisis, he said.
Gay Trachsel, another member of the Million Mom March from Duluth, said changing the permitting law is a budget issue because it's estimated a change would lead to 50,000 new permits the first year it goes into effect. And the cost of that permitting responsibility would likely fall to city and county governments, Trachsel said.
"We think this is a huge budget issue," Trachsel said.
Other Northland senators, including Yvonne Prettner Solon, DFL-Duluth, and Becky Lourey, DFL-Kerrick, said they support the marchers' position, which is also supported by the Minnesota Police Chiefs Association and the Minnesota Sheriffs Association.
Lourey and Prettner Solon said they support sporting firearms for hunting but more concealed handguns on the street would lead to more gun violence -- and more cost to government.
"If someone was abusive or beating their spouse, I would still have to give them a permit under this change," Lourey said.
Concealed carry is the only gun issue she disagrees with the National Rifle Association over, Lourey said. But the organization still gave her a grade of F in its annual review of state lawmakers, she said.
Prettner Solon, a practicing psychologist, said those with mental health problems would also slip through a criminal-background check. She worries that the loss of local permitting discretion might also contribute to more impulsive suicides and more domestic violence.
"We are a very violent society, and I think something has to be done to stem that tide," Prettner Solon said.
Retiring Duluth Police Chief Scott Lyons and newly elected St. Louis County Sheriff Ross Litman have said changing the law is a bad idea.
"The way the proposed legislation is worded, there are people out there on the fringe who would not be disqualified from carrying a concealed weapon," Litman said.
Newly elected Sen. Tom Saxhaug, DFL-Grand Rapids, said he would probably support changing the law for a uniform permitting standard, but wording the law so gun-control advocates and gun-rights supporters find common ground would be very difficult.
"It's something that needs careful tinkering and a heavy-duty discussion, and what it gets down to is wording," Saxhaug said.
So when's the rally?