Last night the MN house passed a fucked up bill that will allow for you to transport an uncased and unloaded long gun to and from hunting as long as you are:
a) not in Anoka, Ramsey, or Hennepin county
b) not in a town with 2,500 people or more
c) not within an area where the discharge of a firearm is prohibited.
This sucks for a lot of reasons:
1)
Primarily, it gives an opening for cities and counties to preempt MN 471.633 (the state law that prevent cities from making laws regarding firearms MORE strict than the state laws. (ie. a city will eventually be able to prevent you from carrying under your Permit to Carry.)
2) It started with 7 counties and was reduced and passed with three, next year it will be back up to 7, then 14, then more.
3) This also includes language which gives control to the state over what you are alllowed to do in your vehicle on private property when not hunting ("in a motor vehicle while at a shooting range <...> where the person has received permission <...> discharge firearms.")
4) The net practical result of this passage will be one of three things 1) no change in how you hunt, 2) people driving with uncased long guns when they should be cased because they don't understand the city population/county rule resulting in revenue generation for the state, or 3) lots of hunters finger-fucking their long guns on the side of the road before they enter a town.
LinkQuote:
Subd. 3. Exceptions; hunting and shooting ranges. (a) Notwithstanding
provisions to the contrary under this chapter, a person may transport an unloaded, uncased
firearm, excluding a pistol as defined in paragraph (b), in a motor vehicle while at a
shooting range, as defined under section 87A.01, subdivision 3, where the person has
received permission from the lawful owner or possessor to discharge firearms; lawfully
hunting on private or public land; or travelling to or from a site the person intends to hunt
lawfully that day or has hunted lawfully that day, unless:
(1) within Anoka, Hennepin, or Ramsey county;
(2) within an area where the discharge of a firearm has been prohibited under section
471.633;
(3) within the boundaries of a home rule charter or statutory city with a population
of 2,500 or more;
(4) on school grounds; or
(5) otherwise restricted under section 97A.091, 97B.081, or 97B.086.
Call / write / email your senators now to let them know that this is coming and you are a gun-owner and hunter AGAINST it. Many of the pro-2A Reps in the House assumed that this is a good bill for hunters/gun owners and supported it; they were wrong.
