Pawlenty signs gun permit bill with little fanfare

Posted on Tue, May. 24, 2005





Pawlenty signs gun permit bill with little fanfare

PATRICK CONDON

Associated Press


ST. PAUL - 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 in a way that would pass muster in the courts.

"We signed it before, we signed it again," said Pawlenty's spokesman, Brian McClung. It was done with little fanfare; McClung said Pawlenty had too many other bills to sign to make a big deal out of it.

Before the 2003 law, sheriffs and police chiefs around the state had discretion to grant or deny handgun permits to individual applicants. Now, anyone who meets the criteria can get one.

Critics say that makes it too easy to get a gun in the state, especially in urban areas where law enforcement is trying to hold the line against violence.

Groups that fought the law in 2003 and filed the lawsuit that brought it down have promised to keep fighting in court. They say the bill still contains a number of provisions that are vulnerable to legal challenge, including not doing enough to ensure rights for churches that want to bar guns from their property.

But backers say the law actually makes the state a safer place by raising the minimum age of gun owners from 18 to 21, and by making all applicants go through the safety training.

Despite vocal opposition from urban and suburban Democrats, the revived gun bill won easy favor in both the Senate, where it passed 44-21, and in the House, which passed it 86-47. It was supported in both chambers by most Republicans and Democrats from rural parts of the state.

That's a pretty big step for Minnesota.

I know it's political but, when will the damn police cheifs and politicos learn that the  bad guys don't get their guns from gun stors and then get permits to carry them,


only the good guys do that.


fricken idiots. glad the bill got signed, chaulk up another one for the light side.

Range Protection is on the way to his desk also. Good year for Minnesota. Next thing we go for is a state constitutional amendment for the right to keep and bear arms. Not bad for a DFL controlled congress.

That's good news for the people of MN, I wish Kali-fornia can get such laws thru the legislature. At the moment, it's like "snow ball's chance in hell" for us.