Hi all,

Thought I'd pose this here, and get everyone's input.

In regards to carrying at the capitol and/or any courthouses, you must notify the Commissioner of Public Safety and/or the county sheriff, as appropriate.

You can find the templates at MNCCRN.org, and read what's stated in law here.

With the new PPA in place, a lot of facts & rumors are floating around in regards to what Judges have declared. How exactly does this work, and what was your personal experience in providing notification? Did anyone get letters in return? What'd they say?

~mtd

This is the letter I recieved back from McGowan:

We are in receipt of your letter dated May 24, 2005 advising us that you may have occasion to visit the Hennepin County Courthouse and that, as the holder of a Minnesota State permit to carry a pistol, it is likely that you will have a pistol in your possession.

This letter is to inform you that, notwithstanding the provisions of Minnesota Statute 609.66 Subd. 1g (b) (2), there exists and Order signed by the Honorable Chief Judge Kevin S. Burke of the Forth Judicial District prohibiting persons from being in the possession of a pistol in any Hennepin County Court Facility. This Order states:

“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that all persons, except as provided in this Order, are prohibited from having weapons on their person or in their possession in Hennepin County court facilities, regardless of whether or not they have a firearms permit.”

This letter shall serve as notice to you of the existence of this order and that “any person violating this Order shall be subject to being held in contempt of court and may be subject to a jail sentence.”

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation in this matter.

Sincerely,

Sheriff Patrick D. McGowan

I notified Sheriff Gudmundson in Dakota County regarding carrying in the Apple Valley library/court complex. I received no reply, so I assume all is well.

I notified the Commissioner of Public Safety regarding carrying in the State Capitol complex. I received a letter back from Captain Cheri Frandrup in the Capitol Security office requesting a copy of my permit and a copy of my driver's license. Since they asked very nicely, not demanded, I complied, and received a nice letter back confirming that they had my notification on file. Really nice experience, to the point that I called the head of the State Patrol to compliment Capt. Frandrup.

I highly recommend doing what I did, sending the notification return receipt signature required (the little green card in the post office). You get it back in the mail signed by whoever received the letter in the office, so that you have proof that they got it.

Captain Frandrup is the Capitol cop who, on May 17, came out and told the media that the forged emails -- with my name on them -- were obvious forgeries. I'm more than moderately appreciative of her professionalism, m'self.

Before the Second MPPA birthday party/Rally I sent in the notification letter, borrowing the wording etc. from CCRN. I sent it certified and got my green card back. I had included a copy of my permit and liscense.

Should I have received some kind of letter in return? I didn't think anything of it at the time but after reading this thread I'm wondering.

Steelheart

You should have -- if I were you, I'd give a quick call to Captain Frandrup (or whoever's on duty at Exec Protection at the Capitol), and make sure you were on the list, just out of curiousity.

I keep a COPY, orignal at home, of my letter from Captain Frandrup in my wallet. The whole process is easy and just remember to use certified mail with a return receipt that way it can't get 'lost'.

So, it would seem that by all of the wording, you are fine carrying in the courthouse. However it looks like they are trying to make it seem like you cannot. I'm curious if I could hand deliver something like that, seeing as I work a couple blocks from there.

You're certainly not fine carrying in the Hennepin County Court Facilities.

Well, letters are going out this weekend...I'll be sure to post back the responses I get.

Do the letters ever expire, like say when your permit expires or after one year?

No court cases on the matter that I know of, and we're unlikely to get one. My guess is that it's one letter per permit/renewal.

I'm quite sure that judges don't have the authority to ban guns anywhere but inside their own courtrooms. However, no matter how right I am on that point, I would not count on winning the argument in court. I would expect judges to be very deferential to and protective of each other. And since it's a judge you'd have to convince....

Just got off the phone with Captain Frandrup. She said because of the hundreds of requests, budget cuts, lack of manpower, etc., they do not send out a conformation letter anymore.

So if you have sent in a notification letter, wait about 30 days and then if you feel the need to confirm, put a phone call into Capital Police and ask if your name is on the list that has given notification to carry on Capital grounds.

If you are stopped, or whatever on Capital grounds, they will use your permit to carry and drivers license to check against the list.

Thanks Cobb, I've been thinking about this recently again.

Guess we'll have to see what happens for the 3rd Annual.

Steelheart