 Minnesota had the benefit of being one of the later states to pass a shall issue law. Prior to 2003 Minnesotans could only receive a permit to carry a concealed weapon with the pernission of local law enforcement (which was rarely given). To make matters worse, there was no way to lawfully "open carry" a firearm. Minnesota's MCPPA law, passed in 2003 and amended in 2005, took into account lessons learned from other states such as Florida, Texas, and Arizona who had already passed shall issue laws. The authors of our law learned a number of things having watched other states, namely that citizens were being charged with crimes when their firearms were exposed accidentally. It got so bad that the Florida legislature had to change the wording of the law in 2011 to allow the unintentional exposure of a firearm. Minnesota law makers rightfully created a permit to carry, as opposed to a concealed carry law, thus allowing law abiding citizens to carry concealed or openly. It can be debated until the end of time which is the right and responsible choice; luckily it is a choice that we have! Many in the gun community will pile on the "newb" for calling it a "Conceal and Carry Permit," however we should be supportive of our fellow gun carrying neighbors. Just imagine if the next time you asked for a Kleenex your neighbor said, "do you mean a facial tissue!?" That is about how it sounds when someone mentions they have a CCW permit and the angry gun rights activist says, "we don't have those in Minnesota!" |