One of the things we like to do here at Metro Defense is keep you up to date on what's happening to our gun rights during the legislative session. If you don't want to get these emails, please hit the unsubscribe link and you'll never see them again. Thanks, Jason & Mike ----- The 2011 legislative session is underway, and GOCRA is working hard to preserve and extend the rights of Minnesota gun owners.
Wednesday, in a 10-7 vote, Representative Steve Drazkowski’s House File 161 passed the House Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy and Finance committee.
HF161 is a bill to eliminate the requirement to get a purchase permit from your local police department before purchasing a handgun or scary-looking rifle from a licensed dealer.
That permit process, passed in 1977, has been redundant since the federally-mandated “instant” background check system was implemented in 1998, and now just wastes the time of law-abiding citizens and police agencies alike.
The bill’s next stop is the Civil Law committee. A hearing has not yet been scheduled, but we’ll let you know when it is.
There’s lots more detail, below, if you’re interested, but for now, could you do these two things?
1. Please take a moment for a thank-you email or phone call to the representatives who voted to pass this common-sense proposal. They are:
Representative Tony Cornish - Chair
651-296-4240
rep.tony.cornish@house.mn
Representative Kelby Woodard - Vice Chair
651-296-7065
rep.kelby.woodard@house.mn
Representative Glenn Gruenhagen
651-296-4229
rep.glenn.gruenhagen@house.mn
Representative Tim Kelly
651-296-8635
rep.tim.kelly@house.mn
Representative Andrea Kieffer
651-296-1147
rep.andrea.kieffer@house.mn
Representative John Kriesel
651-296-4342
rep.john.kriesel@house.mn
Representative Ernie Leidiger
651-296-4282
rep.ernie.leidiger@house.mn
Representative Joe McDonald
651-296-4336
rep.joe.mcdonald@house.mn
Representative Bud Nornes
651-296-4946
rep.bud.nornes@house.mn
Representative Steve Smith
651-296-9188
rep.steve.smith@house.mn
2. Contact members of the Civil Law committee to express your support for the bill. They are:
Torrey Westrom - Committee Chair
651-296-4929
rep.torrey.westrom@house.mn
Representative Steve Drazkowski - Vice Chair
(* Drazkowski is the bill’s author. He clearly supports it, but cheer him on anyway!)
651-296-2273
rep.steve.drazkowski@house.mn
Representative John Lesch - DFL Lead
651-296-4224
rep.john.lesch@house.mn
Representative Glenn Gruenhagen
651-296-4229
rep.glenn.gruenhagen@house.mn
Representative Debra Hilstrom
651-296-3709
rep.debra.hilstrom@house.mn
Representative Bill Hilty
651-296-4308
rep.bill.hilty@house.mn
Representative Mary Liz Holberg
651-296-6926
rep.maryliz.holberg@house.mn
Representative Joe Hoppe
651-296-5066
rep.joe.hoppe@house.mn
Representative Melissa Hortman
651-296-4280
rep.melissa.hortman@house.mn
Representative Tim Mahoney
651-296-4277
rep.tim.mahoney@house.mn
Representative Pat Mazorol
651-296-7803
rep.pat.mazorol@house.mn
Representative Joyce Peppin
651-296-7806
rep.joyce.peppin@house.mn
Representative Sandra Peterson
651-296-4176
rep.sandra.peterson@house.mn
Representative Linda Runbeck
651-296-2907
rep.linda.runbeck@house.mn
Representative Peggy Scott
651-296-4231
rep.peggy.scott@house.mn
Representative Steve Simon
651-296-9889
rep.steve.simon@house.mn
Representative Doug Wardlow
651-296-4128
rep.doug.wardlow@house.mn
Here are more details:
In Minnesota, before you can buy a handgun or a “semiautomatic military-style assault weapon” (that’s gun-banner language for a scary-looking black rifle) from a gun store, you must first go to your local police station and apply for a Minnesota “Permit to Purchase.” This permit means that the department has run a background check and found that you’re not disqualified from purchasing such a gun.
If the department does its job, you get a purchase permit card within a week. If the department is too busy, arrogant or careless, it may take two weeks, three weeks, or even longer. Some anti-gun police departments are notoriously slow, blatantly ignoring the state-mandated seven-day deadline. And though the law is clear, it is also toothless, providing no incentive for misbehaving police departments to comply.
Once you get the card, go to the store, and choose a gun, you then have to fill out an ATF “4473 form,” and the dealer phones in your info to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which then approves (or, if you’re disqualified, rejects) the sale, by performing another set of background checks, based on the exact same data that the police department took so long to deliver. This NICS check looks for disqualifications under both federal and state law.
With tight budgets at every level of Minnesota government, we cannot afford to overlook opportunities to save money. This background check redundancy is completely unnecessary, and is a waste of time and valuable law enforcement resources, not to mention the annual inconvenience to law-abiding Minnesotans.
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