Anti-gun Metrocrat legislators are continuing to push for universal gun registration, hidden in a bill that supposedly would close the mythical “gun show loophole.”

At the State Fair, visitors to the Minnesota House of Representatives booth will be encouraged to fill out a “poll,” whose first question is, “When someone wants to purchase a firearm at a gun show, should a background check on the buyer be required prior to the sale?“

The only safe answer to this question is, “NO!”  A better answer would be “No, I don’t support Representative Paymar’s backdoor gun registration bill.”  Spread the word and forward this email to as many freedom-loving Minnesotans as you can.

Here are this year’s poll questions being offered to fair-goers at the House of Representatives booth in the Education Building on Cosgrove Street just north of Dan Patch Avenue.

#1.  ”When someone wants to purchase a firearm at a gun show, should a background check on the buyer be required prior to the sale?”

Pay very close attention to the wording. The question deceptively fails to differentiate between federally licensed firearms dealers and private party sales.

A Short History

Anti-gun lobbyists have been  been trying to pass similar legislation for years. The primary author for this agenda is Representative Michael Paymar (DFL 64B). The evolution of these bills tips their hand and shows us the ultimate goal: draconian gun control, elimination of private party sales, and total gun registration. Much like the camel’s nose under the tent, if we don’t vigorously oppose this now we’ll eventually end up with the whole package in incremental steps. These laws have never been shown to reduce crime!

As recently as 2007-2008, despite the fact that Minnesota already had a functioning transferee permit process and statutes covering both private party sales and sales to ineligible persons, the anti-gun lobbyists pushed House File 3324. This was a very expensive and overreaching piece of legislation which would have done nothing more than make firearms less accessible for law abiding citizens. The bill attempted to eliminate private property transfers between law abiding citizens and register all firearms transfers in a state-wide database.

HF 3324 defined a “firearms collectors’ exhibition” as: any event at which 50 or more firearms are offered or exhibited for transfer; and two or more persons are offering or exhibiting one or more firearms for transfer.

In 2009-2010 the anti-gun lobby offered House File 2960, defining gun shows as: the entire premises open to the public for the event or function, that is sponsored and has the primary purpose of facilitating, in whole or in part, the purchase, sale, or offer for sale, of firearms at which 25 or more firearms are offered  for transfer, and three or more persons are offering one or more firearms for transfer”.

Beware of Camels, Too

The anti-gun lobby is constantly seeking to get its nose under the tent and its control on our rights. Now they’re attempting to build support early with a deceptively worded, misleading poll at the State Fair.  They keep stepping back and trying for a little less of the pie but the intent is clear: they want to take your guns away.

The anti-gun agenda has been defeated in every committee whether offered as bills or attached to other legislation as amendments. That didn’t happen by accident. It took constant attention and repeated action by GOCRA and gun owners like you.

The battle on this issue starts today

Please get the word out that this question cannot be taken at face value and the only safe answer is NO. ANY other answer plays into the future plans of anti-gun legislators! Please tell your friends, family, and Representatives that question #1 is vague, deceptive, and unacceptable.

And please forward this email to everybody you know, and ask them to sign up, today, at http://www.gocra-mn.org/join.html to receive these eblasts.  And then after visiting the Minnesota House of Representative booth and voting a resounding no, enjoy yourself at the State Fair, armed with the knowledge that the Metrocrats are, yet again, trying to pull a fast one, and that we caught them red-handed, again.

Thank you for your time and support.

Your GOCRA Team

Click here to make a donation to GOCRA. Without your support, it would not be possible to continue the fight for your rights.

Contact:

John Caile
Minnesota Gun Owners’ Civil Rights Alliance
www.gocra-mn.org

Minnesota Handgun Carry Permit Holders Pass 75,000 Mark

In just over seven years, more than 75,000 law-abiding citizens have undertaken the training, background checks and expenses of obtaining a Minnesota Permit to Carry a Pistol, often erroneously referred to as a “Conceal and Carry” permit.

St. Paul, Minn, June 3, 2010 – Just over seven years after its passage, the Minnesota Citizens’ Personal Protection Act of 2003 has resulted in over 75,000 people who now have active carry permits, a 500% increase over the number in effect before the law was reformed.

According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, there were 75,583 active permits as of May 31, 2010.

The MCPPA, passed in 2003, allows any U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident who has taken state-approved training, paid a fee, and passed strict criminal, chemical abuse and mental health background checks to receive a five-year permit to carry a handgun in most public places.

Under the prior, “may-issue” law, those seeking a permit needed to convince local law enforcement officials that they had a personal or professional need to carry a pistol. Police chiefs and sheriffs had almost unlimited discretion to issue or deny a permit, for any or no reason, and permit issuance varied widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

After the law was briefly overturned in court in July 2004, based on the “single subject” rule, the Minnesota legislature re-passed it in May 2005 as a stand-alone bill, by an even wider margin than before.

“Increasingly, personal protection is becoming more widely and socially accepted,” said David Gross, a criminal defense attorney, member of the GOCRA board, and long-time advocate for the right of self defense. He points at the recent controversy manufactured by gun control advocates over law-abiding citizens carrying holstered guns into Starbucks coffee shops. Starbucks refused to give in to demands that it ban gun-carrying customers.

“That is literally visible here in Minnesota, too,” he said, “The number of ‘bans guns’ signs continues to dwindle as businesses return the respect shown by gun owners.”

Even vocal opponents of the law, like former Olmsted County Sheriff Steve Borchardt, revised their opinions as law-abiding Minnesotans remained law abiding after earning permits.”The fact is the sky didn’t fall,” he told KARE11 in 2005. “The fact is it worked pretty seamlessly.”

The latest Minnesota Department of Public Safety permit report, as well as a history of permit counts, can be found on the GOCRA web site at http://www.gocra-mn.org/faq.html.

For additional information, contact John Caile, Minnesota Gun Owners’ Civil Rights Alliance, at (612) 240-6080.

About Minnesota Gun Owners’ Civil Rights Alliance:

GOCRA and its subsidiary, Concealed Carry Reform, NOW!, worked for seven years to secure passage of the Minnesota Citizens’ Personal Protection Act, and continues to act as the state’s gun rights watchdog, defending and advancing the human right of self defense in the state of Minnesota.

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http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705359364/Guns-could-be-easily-brandished-under-proposed-law.html