Permit to carry ruling creates confusion Pennington County will process applications filed under the new law by David Hill Editor  A Ramsey County District Court decision striking down Minnesota's permit-to-carry gun law last week has created considerable confusion. Pennington County Sheriff Mike Hruby said he's not sure how the ruling will affect Pennington County. At this time, he said his office will clear applications filed under the new law, and then, if necessary, suspend the process until they know what to do. The controversial permit-to-carry law that took effect May 23, 2003, required sheriffs to honor permit requests by all citizens 21 and over who are trained in the safe use of a pistol and who are not otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm. (Although it is often referred to as a conceal-and-carry law, the statute does not require the permit holder to conceal his or her weapon.) The law also required property owners to post signs if they wanted to prohibit firearms on their premises. A coalition of more than 30 churches and social service providers sued the state of Minnesota to repeal the law. When it was approved, the permit-to-carry provision was attached to an unrelated DNR bill. According to stories appearing in the Star Tribune, the Ramsey District Judge's ruling struck down the law because the state constitution requires the legislature to approve only single-subject legislation. Pennington County Sheriff Hruby said it was a metro problem that led to the creation of the new law in the first place. He explained that there was considerable pressure to approve the law because metro area citizens were being denied permits to carry. Under the old law, issuing permits to carry was up to the discretion of the sheriff. The effect of the new law on the number of permits issued in Pennington County was obvious. Under the old law, Pennington County and the city of Thief River Falls had about 100 or so permits. Today, there are only about 26 in Pennington County. When the new law took effect, a new permit fee structure was also approved. Under the old law, it cost applicants $10 per year to renew their applications. Under the new law, permit applicants were charged $100 for a five-year permit, $21.50 of which was remitted to the state. In addition, the new statute required permit holders to be "trained in the safe use of a pistol." In Pennington County, training fees vary, but are around $80. Sheriff Hruby believes that the cost of the permit and training probably discouraged many people in the county who would have normally sought a permit to carry. Sheriff Hruby believes in citizen's Second Amendment rights and didn't think there was anything wrong with the old law, so it doesn't bother him that the state may revert to the old law. Questions regarding the validity of permits issued under the new law and whether the county will have to refund fees paid under that law, however, has his office in a quandary. Sheriff Hruby seriously doubts whether the state will refund the fees it collected under the new law. While there are many unanswered questions at this time, Sheriff Hruby said he is absolutely positive that there will be a permit-to-carry law in Minnesota.

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