Letter: Don’t penalize the good gun owners
Published 3:20 pm Tuesday, March 17, 2020
In regard to the article “Minnesota Senate GOP unveils gun violence prevention bills,” Sen. Ron Latz failed to mention that the House DFL posted a poll on both Facebook and Twitter looking for support for their red flag and universal gun registration bills. This was done the night before the House floor voted on these metro-centric bills. They pulled their own poll 19 hours early after over 80% of respondents were against these awfully written bills.
The red flag bill has no provision for due process, allowing personal property to be seized by law enforcement on hearsay. Akin to having your car impounded because you parked at a bar/grill for lunch and someone who dislikes you called the cops and said that you “might” be planning on driving impaired.
This type of law has even been used against a police officer in Colorado when someone with a vendetta against him lied by saying that they had a child together — thus, qualifying her to file a red flag complaint. Read at: https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/next/colorados-red-flag-law-used-to-target-officer-involved-in-fatal-shooting/73-f52ddaca-893d-493b-983c-db9ecf250ad3.
Even though all states already have background check laws, the universal gun registration bill calls for all firearm transfers to have a background check done (and paid for) by even private transfers. If your nephew (or niece) wanted to borrow your old .243 for an antelope hunt in Wyoming, this law would make you an instant criminal if you didn’t run a background check on them.
These bills are funded by big, out-of-state, anti-gun entities such as Michael Bloomberg and the Joyce Foundation (Chicago), who have no business pushing their agenda on the majority of Minnesotan’s wishes. They will do nothing to deter criminals and just put even more onus on us legal gun owners.
The GOP is headed in the right direction with bills that put the focus on criminals. Too often, career criminals (who are already barred from possessing firearms and ammunition) have a revolving door at the courthouse with plea bargaining serious offenses down to a slap on the wrist.
Put the screws to the bad guys, not the good guys/gals with guns.
Mark Nicholson
Wells