Churches in Minnesota win Court Case -- May Ban Guns in Parking Lots
The Minnesota Supreme Court upheld a lower court's decision to allow churches to ban guns on their property, including parking lots. Religious freedom was considered by the to be more important than an individual right to keep firearms in cars. Minnesotans may still keep firearms in cars at businesses, even those that ban firearms inside buildings.
NICS Improvement Bill Signed by President Bush
On January 8, 2008 President Bush signed the NICS Improvement bill, a measure that will assist states in placing mental health records into the FBI's instant background check system. This bill was supported by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence as well as the NRA. Some organizations such as the Legal Community Against Violence, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and the Gun Owners of America took a position opposing this bill. Read more.
Supreme Court Will Take on Washington DC Handgun Ban Case
The U.S. Supreme Court decided this week to take on the case of District of Columbia v. Heller, a move that will require the justices to examine the meaning of the Second Amendment. It has been 70 years since the High Court has taken such a case. In 1939, the case of United States v. Miller, the US Supreme Court rejected the individual rights interpretation of the Second Amendment. Since that time, most states and the federal government have passed gun regulation laws that place some restrictions on gun possession and ownership. Read CSM's press release.
Minnesotans Protest Easy Access to Guns
As part of a nationwide protest against easy access to guns by children and criminals, Twin Cities residents held a “Lie-In” in Minneapolis on August 28 . Thirty-two people lay down on the sidewalk in front of Shiloh Temple in Minneapolis to represent the daily American death toll from gun homicide. The Twin Cities Metro Anti-Violence Coalition, of which Citizens for a Safer Minnesota is a member, sponsored the event with the Minneapolis Urban League. (The event was covered by the Star Tribune and other local media. See following link to KARE 11 story)
http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=263519
“We’re being held hostage by the gun industry,” said Chief Tim Dolan of the Minneapolis Police Department. “Our kids are carrying guns today because they are afraid of other kids carrying guns.” Minnesota is “one of the worst” states when it comes to easy access to guns for those who shouldn’t have them, Dolan said. Ninety percent of the guns used in crimes in Minnesota are purchased in Minnesota, he said. Attendees posted memorial displays for the victims of gun violence. (See photos.)
Dolan and Mayor R.T. Rybak are among the local officials who are supporting a nationwide effort to lift a gun industry gag rule on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Under the Tiahrt Amendment, first adopted by Congress in 2003, the ATF’s ability to release information to local police on the sources of crime guns has been severely restricted, hampering local efforts to stop illegal gun trafficking and get guns off the streets and out of the hands of children and criminals. (More on that initiative at www.protectpolice.org)
Minnesota does not have gun registration. Minnesota law also does not require a background check for potential gun buyers unless the seller is a Federally licensed firearms dealer.
Other speakers included U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, Council Member Don Samuels, Mayor R.T. Rybak, Two Mothers founder Mary Johnson, coalition organizer Deseria Galloway, and shooting victims Bobby Brown and Ferome Brown.
A bell-ringing was also held on the same day in Duluth sponsored by the Northland Million Mom March on the steps of city hall. Mayor Herb Bergson, a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, spoke. The bell was rung 32 times.
Similar events were held around the country on August 28, the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech.
