I'm not sure if it's due to my heightened awareness because of the new conceal/carry law, or because we have more crackpots carrying concealed weapons now. However, in the last two-weeks I can atest to two instances where a convenience store clerk that works at a store down the road form me was threatened by "customers" w/ handguns for the following reasons:
1) One customer thought the gas pump had "cheated" him and wanted more gas
2) Another customer wanted a free blunt. Apparently he had enough money to buy a handgun, but not a blunt.
I know for a fact that one of the two individuals had a concel & carry permit. The other I'm not sure about.
On the up-side, this new law may turn-out to be a blessing in disguise as far as budgets go, as we should be able to eliminate a lot of the need for resolution courts as a means of settling civil disputes.
BTW-according to the store clerk that was threatened over the gas, MPD chose not to file any charges for the guy pulling a handgun. He had a permit and apparently pulling a handgun in and of itself is not considered a crime, as long as you don't point it at someone. The Sherrif's Dept is still investigating. However, no one seems to have the names of the 5 people that witnessed ti incident.
Dennis Plante Jordan
Anne says:
From what I have heard on the news and from my understanding of the new law,she would have qualified for a gun permit. According to the news media, she has no criminal history, therefore, no felony arrest. She has never been committed to an institute for mental health, drug or alchohol treatment, so therefore, that disqualifier doesn't apply. Under the old law, which read, 'the sherriff MAY issue a permit', she probably would not have qualified since she had a reputation around Ramsey County Courthouse as an eccentric. The sheriff would have been able to use his discretion. The new law reads 'the sheriff SHALL issue', taking away that discretion. So if she applied for the permit and the sheriff found some demonstrable reason which would disqualify her under the law, she could have gotten a permit and been legally carrying a gun. This is the main reason why law enforcement in this state was against this law. I haven't heard or read that she indeed did have a gun permit or ever applied for one. By the read, there are many people in our society just like her. Comforting to know they can be armed and possibly ready to stop a crime at any time, or at least, what to them, appears to be a crime.
Anne McCandless Jordan
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