by clauwitz on Sat Feb 02, 2013 11:11 pm
I didn't see a full suite of explanations on GOCRAs website, so here's my summary of the proposed laws that'll be discussed in committee at the MN state legislature this coming week:
HF237:
1) Amends MN Statute 624.713 to make it easier to restrict the possession of firearms without due process by striking "by a judicial determination" from text relating to treatment or confinement for mental illness or substance abuse. So if you or someone else puts you into treatment for either, you lose your rights immediately and without your day in court. There is a process you can go through to restore your rights.
2) Amends MN Statute 624.7131 to allow police chiefs/sheriffs to charge up to $25 for permits to purchase (for handguns and semi-automatic military-style assault weapons). It also allows them to, if they can't find your criminal record within the current 7 day window, require you to come in and get fingerprinted like a criminal so they can find your record. It also negates the use of a MN concealed weapons permit (CWP) as a permit to purchase once the CWP is more than a year old.
3) Amends MN Statute 624.7132 to restrict private party transfers, except to relatives, without use of a FFL dealer.
-dangers: back-door registration (of course), removal of due process, increase in cost to acquire firearms.
HF 238: Amends MN Statute 609.66, subdivision 1d to make it a felony punishable by up to 5 years and/or $10000 fine for persons with a concealed weapons permit to possess a firearm on a elementary, middle, or high (secondary) school and child care center property, instead of a misdemeanor. Also removes the exemption from forfeiture of firearms carried with a permit under those conditions.
-dangers: more felonies and gun forfeitures.
HF 239: Minnesota Statute, section 624.714, subdivision 17 currently says that if you are ordered to leave a private establishment by the owner or his/her agent because you are carrying a firearm and you don't, you've committed a petty misdemeanor. HF 239 amends this to increase the charge from a petty to a gross misdemeanor and makes a second offense a felony. It also removes the exemption from forfeiture for firearms carried during such an offense.
-Dangers: more felonies and gun forfeitures
HF 240 Amends Minnesota Statutes 2012, sections 624.7131, subdivisions 2, 4; 624.7132, subdivisions 2, 3, 5, 13; 624.714, subdivisions 2, 6, 12, 16 by adding a paragraph allowing sheriffs to deny CWPs for past police contacts that indicate dangerous or violent behavior, chemical dependency, or mental health problems. Also strikes the ability of non-residents (like a North Dakota resident) from getting a MN CWP.
-Dangers: removal of rights without due process; the sheriff can deny because of indications, not actual convictions or judicial determinations. Argue with a police officer? Refuse to tell a police officer something or provide ID when the officer doesn't have probable cause? That's an indication that you're dangerous or violent. No permit for you. Also, non-residents should be able to get a CWP in MN.
HF 241 is the big one: Assault Weapons Ban. It changes the current statutory definition of an assault weapon (take a peek at it to see how, they're both arbitrary). It outlaws possession of any firearms meeting the definition of an assault weapon unless you owned it before 1 February 2013 (yesterday), register it every year (including paying a fee), store it in accordance with the local police's guidelines, have the storage inspected yearly by the police. Once you die, the firearm will be destroyed.
HF 242 is the second biggest one: "Large" capacity magazine ban. This makes any magazine, detachable or otherwise, that hold more than 10 rounds illegal (except tube magazines for .22 and lever action rifles). No registration allowed for pre-ban magazines.
HF 243 is 242, except 7 rounds instead of 10.
HF 244. Makes it a gross misdemeanor and removes one's right to possess firearms if one is convicted of falsely submitting a report of the theft/loss of a firearm. No Canoe accidents for you.
