Alphecca

Judge Tosses MN CCW Law

Minnesota's one-year-old concealed-carry law (actually, just a law that made it easier to obtain a carry permit, extended the permit to five-years, and removed the discretion from local sheriffs to issue it) has been struck-down. From the Star Tribune:

A Ramsey County District judge shot down Minnesota's permit-to-carry gun law Tuesday, saying that the way it was enacted in 2003 violated the state Constitution and the state's tradition of clean government.

Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch said that the ruling by Judge John Finley nullifies the law that made it easier for citizens to pack heat.

But he said it doesn't invalidate the more than 25,000 permits issued since the process became less discretionary.

Hatch said he will immediately appeal Finley's decision to the Minnesota Supreme Court. For now, Hatch said, the state reverts to the old system where local sheriffs have discretion to issue permits to carry firearms. While it is commonly referred to as a conceal-and-carry law, the statute does not require the permit holder to conceal his or her weapon.

The 2003 change established a system requiring sheriffs to honor permit requests by all citizens 21 and over who are trained in the safe use of a pistol and who are not otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm.

It also required property owners to post "no weapons" signs, if they want to prohibit weapons on their premises, and in the event they wanted to press trespassing charges against violators.

Hatch said the signs are no longer required to pursue trespassing charges; a verbal warning is now sufficient. But he said building owners may decide to keep the signs up anyway for informational purposes.

On Wednesday, law enforcement officials scrambled to adjust. Jim Franklin, executive director of the Minnesota Sheriffs Association, said members were seeking answers to many questions. He said a lot of sheriffs are hoping that the attorney general's appeal, once made, will suspend Finley's ruling until higher courts settle the issue.

In the meantime, some sheriffs are advising potential permit applicants to wait for the dust to settle in the courts. Other sheriffs immediately reverted to issuing permits under terms of the old law. Permits under the old law were cheaper and issuance was at the discretion of sheriffs and police chiefs, but the validations under the old law were only good for one year instead of the newer law's five years.