The Sky Isn't Falling
The following is an Op-Ed piece that Joe Olson and I did for the Star Tribune right after the MPPA passed, and which was published a couple of weeks later.The Sky Isn't Falling
by Joel Rosenberg and Joseph E. Olson
With the passage of the Minnesota Citizens Personal Protection Act of 2003, better known as the MPPA, and it's signature into law by Governor Pawlenty yesterday, there are some things that are going to change in Minnesota.
But, relax: the sky isn't falling. It isn't going to fall. You won't be able to even see the changes, although the changes that are going to happen are going to be for the good. Still, there are some things that are going to be different, as well as those that will be the same.
Let's look at what's changed.
Fewer People Will Be Allowed to Own Firearms
The MPPA did change the law about who can own guns—but only to restrict it. When the bill goes into effect thirty days from now, convicted violent felons will now be barred for their entire lives from owning firearms, instead of the ten years that was the case until now.
Who May Carry Guns
Despite all the hoopla—on both sides—the MPPA doesn't change where many people already can carry guns. Minnesotans, even without permits, who are allowed to own firearms at all will still be able to carry them—loaded or not—in their homes or rented property, and their places of business (the MPPA expressly recognizes that employment agreements may limits guns in the workplace), or when traveling between their homes and their places of business, although most still won't choose to. Minnesotans without carry permits who aren't traveling between home and work will still be able to have guns in their cars—on the seat beside them if they care to—as long as the guns are unloaded, and in a closed, fastened case, just as they can now. That hasn't changed at all.
Carry Permits
This is where the big changes are going to be. Up until now, Minnesota was a "may issue" state, where police chiefs could arbitrarily grant or deny carry permits, with no real check on their authority. Right now, there are around 12,000 Minnesotans who have those carry permits; that number will go up, as now, Minnesota has become a "shall issue" state, where competent, law-abiding adults who pass a certified training course and apply will receive carry permits, unless their local sheriff determines that they're likely to be dangerous if allowed to carry a handgun in public and denies their application.
On a day-to-day basis, you're not going to notice it, and in a few months, even the most hysterical politicians will stop worrying about whether or not the shopper next to them in the supermarket has a "pistol in his parka"—and not just because it will be summer, and too hot for parkas.
In the thirty-three states that have had such "shall-issue" laws, permit holders simply haven't been a problem, and Minnesotans—with and without permits—will continue to be the law-abiding, friendly people that we always have been.
It'll be okay.
Most people estimate that something around 50,000 permits will be issued this year, with more to come over the next couple of years. Which means, on average, that you'll see about four times as many permit holders out in public in the next year as you did in the last year-- but, even if that's so, only around one in a hundred Minnesotans will even have a permit.
When was the last time you saw a permit holder's handgun?
When was the last time you saw a permit holder take out a handgun in public?
Never? Ask your friends—when was the last time that they saw a permit holder take out a handgun in public? Ever?
You and they are unlikely to see one this year—four times zero is, after all, still zero. And it's nothing to worry about, even if you've got some phobia about guns.
There are going to be some changes in permit holders—and if you're worried, the changes should reassure you. The minimum age for permit holders has gone up from 18 to 21; there won't be any more teenaged permit holders.
Before, permit holders simply had to pass a shooting qualification. Now, permit holders will have to pass an approved training course, which will still include a shooting qualification, as well as training on the law about the use of force and other matters. The sheriffs can accept certificates from whatever training courses they think are reasonable, as well as by law being required to accept training certificates from any of several public agencies, including the Department of Public Safety and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, as well as three private organizations: the Minnesota Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors (MALEFI), the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the American Association of Certified Firearms Instructors (AACFI).
New permit holders will now have to be trained, not just pass a shooting qualification. Before, there were no legal restrictions on drinking and carrying—it would have been lawful (incredibly stupid, but lawful), for a permit holder to carry a handgun in public while too drunk to walk, much less drive. It didn't happen, of course.
Now, permit holders will be held to a BAC standard of .04—less than half of what drivers are held to—with serious penalties if they violate that standard, and even more serious ones if they reach the BAC standard of .10 for drunken driving. Drunken permit holders haven't been a problem before, when it was lawful; it won't be a problem now, either.
Posting
Before the MPPA, store owners who were uncomfortable with the notion of permit holders in their stores had no option to prohibit it. Now, if you're worried about the idea of permit holders in your store -- there's no reason to be, of course—you can post a sign forbidding handguns. After that, if you notice somebody with a handgun in your store—if, say, the permit holder has forgotten—you may ask them to leave. They will, of course. Not only because it would be "Minnesota Nice," if they didn't leave after you'd specifically asked them to, they'd be breaking the law.
Guns in Schools
The only way that the MPPA changes anything about "guns in schools" is to restrict it more than it is now. Up until now, permit holders were free to carry their handguns in schools—and many have, with no problems. Now, in addition to having to have a permit, a permit holder will have to have explicit, written permission from the school principal to bring a handgun out of the parking lot and into the school.
"Guns on the Street"
You've probably heard some people claiming that the passing of the MPPA means "50,000 more guns on the street."
No, it doesn't. By taking away the right of convicted felons to own firearms, it may end up meaning fewer "guns on the street." But the real problem with "guns on the street" isn't the guns, but people carrying them illegally and using them irresponsibly. In the thirty-three "shall issue" states, permit holders have shown themselves to be a remarkably law-abiding lot. Many permit holders won't even regularly be carrying their handguns, and those who do won't be a problem in Minnesota, any more than they've been in Washington State, or Oregon, or more than thirty other states.
You don't have any reason to worry about your law-abiding neighbors. Criminals do, though, and if the results in Minnesota are anything like they've been in any of the other "shall issue" states, you'll see a small but noticeable drop in violent crime, as criminals either move out of the state, or substitute property crime for violent crime.
One Thing That Hasn't Changed
"Shall issue" permit laws, like the MPPA, are the law in the majority of states, containing the majority of the population of the United States. Every time one of these laws have passed, it's been passed over a hysterical chorus of dire predictions about "blood in the streets," "every fender-bender or bar fight will turn into a shootout," and so forth. And that's been particularly so in Minnesota. You've read dire predictions like that on this Op-Ed page, and in every case, these dire predictions have been proven, in time, to be false.
The sky isn't falling.
It'll be fine.
About the Authors
Joseph E. Olson is Professor of Law at Hamline University, as well as a longtime political activist involved in 2nd Amendment issues. A former federal prosecutor and experienced defense counsel, he's licensed to practice law in Minnesota and California. In addition to being a NRA Certified Firearms Instructor since 1985, Olson is a graduate of many self-defense oriented firearms training courses. Olson has been issued carry permits in Arizona, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Washington State. Olson holds Certifier, and Instructor ratings from the American Association of Certified Firearms Instructors, an organization dedicated to training civilians not only on the law and technicalities of carrying a handgun for personal protection, but on strategies and tactics for avoiding any necessity of the use of a handgun for personal protection.
Joel Rosenberg is the author of more than twenty novels, and, as one of the very few Minneapolis residents ever granted a carry permit under the previous law "for personal safety, as needed," has been licensed to carry a handgun for more than five years. He holds both Certifier and Instructor ratings from AACFI.