Minnesota Gun Activism 2017

[DustinD]

This is the 2017 version of previous Minnesota Gun Activism threads.

http://www.armedpolitesociety.com/index.php?topic=38127.0  2013
http://www.armedpolitesociety.com/index.php?topic=43655.0  2014
http://www.armedpolitesociety.com/index.php?topic=47068.0  2015
http://www.armedpolitesociety.com/index.php?topic=51052.0  2016

http://www.armedpolitesociety.com/index.php?topic=47539.0  Hearing loss data for 2015



Saturday, January 7th the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus is hosting an informational meeting with speakers and lectures about gun activism and plans for 2017. I will be liveblogging this for the Gun Owners Caucus tomorrow.

I will know more tomorrow, but the tentative plan is to push self-defense law reform, better castle doctrine, and SYG. Improve reciprocity again, for the third time. Push constitutional carry. If these are put into an omnibus public safety bill we should be able to both pass and get them signed.

Edit: I am live blogging this event at www.facebook.com/gunownersmn I have been promoted to Facebook editor of both GOCRA and MN Gun Caucus.

[DustinD]

Constitutional carry and self-defense law reform, (castle doctrine, no duty to retreat) have been introduced. The House speaker and other Republican House leaders are committed to passing these bills and others through the House. We are still working on the Senate, not sure if we will get the Governor to sign all of the bills or not. The Caucus leadership is asking everyone to write their representatives to make these bills a priority.


www.revisor.mn.gov/bills HF0238



www.revisor.mn.gov/bills HF0188

[DustinD]

From an email, bolding mine.

Two critical pieces of pro-gun rights legislation are coming up for a hearing in the House Public Safety and Security Policy and Finance Committee on Wednesday, March 8th at 10:15am:
HF188:  Constitutional Carry (also known as Permitless Carry)
HF238:  Defense of Person and Dwelling Act (also known in other states as "Stand your Ground")
These are the two centerpieces of our 2017 legislative agenda --- and this year we have the best chance of passing them through the legislature because of the work that supporters like you did during the 2016 elections - by putting a pro-Second Amendment legislature in place in both house of the Minnesota legislature.

We've worked closely with the National Rifle Association (NRA) and GOCRA President Joseph Olson to bring this legislation forward.

We need your help to ensure that these bills move forward in the legislature this year.
Join us on Wednesday, March 8th:  If you can be at the hearing, please join us!  The hearing will be in the State Office Building (100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Drive) in Room 10.  The hearing begins at 10:15am.  We recommend arriving early.  You may carry in the State Capitol Complex if you have a Minnesota Permit to Carry - prior notification is not required. We recommend carrying concealed.

Call your State Representative:  Let them know you support HF188 and HF238 and want to see them move forward in 2017.

E-Mail your State Representative:  Follow-up with a brief e-mail to your State Representative reiterating your support for HF188 and HF238.

E-Mail the Committee:  E-Mail the members of the House Public Safety and Security Policy and Finance Committee.  You can find a roster of members at this link.

Please join the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus if you haven't already:  It's our members and their financial support that enable us to move legislation like this forward. Join us today!
It's important that we have a good crowd on hand.  If you can be there that morning, please come down!

We've excited about next week - and hope we can see you there.

Yours in Liberty,
Bryan Strawser
Chair
Sent by Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, PO Box 131718, Saint Paul, MN 55113-0015, a Minnesota nonprofit & IRS 501(c)(4) organization.

[DustinD]

Slightly related. A pro-Trump rally was violently attacked today in the MN State Capitol, 6 people in a "black bloc" were arrested for felony riot.

http://www.kare11.com/news/local/st-paul-rally-in-support-of-trump-draws-counterprotesters/419795294

In gun news, I hope to attend the anti-gun rally on Tuesday to see what they are up to.

[DustinD]

The hearing is tomorrow (Wednesday). I will be there around 8:00 am. We have a surprise guest speaker, John Lott. It should be pretty interesting as far as hearings go, we think our opponents may be planning some shenanigans. I may be busy so check the Facebook page for live updates.

http://www.startribune.com/stand-your-ground-laws-the-facts-don-t-support-fears-of-armed-citizens/415622074/  written by Lott himself.



The live feed is at https://events.qwikcast.tv/QwikCast/QwikCastEventById?eventKey=56ec96c7-941e-4bbb-a2c4-fd790b514e1f&eventPageId=1366

[DustinD]

9:00am. I am in the hearing room, tax hearings going on. Turnout isn't great, but there is still time.

9:30am. Room is past full capacity. Not sure who has the better turnout at this time. Overflow into room 181.

10:15 am. Hearing called to order.

Plans are to lay the two bills over to omnibus.

Please read the caucus FB page for live updates.

Lady behind me complaining about Rob going over his time limit, and called him Donald trump. She does not realize planned testimony gets more time than the general public.

I had to stop the live updates here and switch to facebook, most of it can be found there.

The rest of the testimony was pretty good on our side, and a complete feces show by our opponents. I have never seen them behave this horribly, it was night and day worse than what I am used to.

One guy affiliated with Moms Demand Action - MN pretended to be on our side and did a crazy over the top Trump / white supremacists parody and said we need to bring back lynching and start killing anyone who makes us feel scared. Representative Raymond Dehn tried to paint the anti-gun nutcase as being a typical gun owner.

http://www.shotinthedark.info/wp/?p=62378 has a nice blog post up about that incident.

[DustinD]

The House Speaker Rep. Kurt Daudt has said he likely won't include the pro-gun bills into the House Public Safety Omnibus Bill. We need everyone to call and write to try and get him to change his mind.

From a www.gunowners.mn email:

Earlier this month, two critical pro-Second Amendment bills were heard in the Minnesota House of Representatives Public Safety and Security Policy & Finance Committee:
HF188, authored by Rep. Jim Nash, would make permits to carry optional throughout Minnesota. This concept is known as "Constitutional Carry" and fully recognizes that a law-abiding citizen should not have to beg government permission to carry a firearm. Permits would remain available for individual wishing to carry in other states that recognize the Minnesota Permit to Carry.

HF238, also authored by Rep. Jim Nash, reforms Minnesota's self-defense laws, codifying decades of case law, expanding castle doctrine, and removing the "duty to retreat" in Minnesota law. This concept is often known as "Stand your Ground".
Both bills were heard in a committee hearing earlier this month - the bills were held over with the intention of being included in the 2017 Public Safety Omnibus Bill.

If they are not included in the Omnibus, the bills will die until next year.

We need your help TODAY in order to ensure that these bills move forward!

Call and e-mail the following Minnesota House Republican Leaders and tell them that law-abiding gun owners in Minnesota are eager to see important self-defense legislation bills move forward in the Minnesota House this year:
House Speaker Rep. Kurt Daudt
Office:  651-296-5364
E-Mail:  rep.kurt.daudt@house.mn

Majority Leader Rep. Joyce Peppin
Office:  651-296-7806
E-Mail:  rep.joyce.peppin@house.mn

Public Safety Committee Chairman Tony Cornish
Office:  651-296-4240
E-Mail:  rep.tony.cornish@house.mn
It's important to both call and e-mail so that your message is heard loud and clear.  Be polite, but firm in your position that these bills should move forward this year.

Gun owners across Minnesota worked hard in 2014 and 2016 to elect pro-Second Amendment majorities in both the Minnesota House and Senate. Now is the time to advance substantive pro-gun rights legislation.

Again, please call and e-mail these leaders TODAY! 

We'll have further updates in the coming days.

Yours in Liberty,
Blue-Signature---Bryan.gif
Bryan Strawser
Chair



The NRA, GOCRA, and a few smaller groups are also asking their members to contact the House leaders about this issue.

[DustinD]

I am at the shooters show at Bills gun shop and range in Robbinsdale working the gun owners caucus table.

You can come down today and tomorrow and shoot a large variety of guns for free plus the cost of ammo.

https://www.facebook.com/BillsGS/?ref=br_rs

[DustinD]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=44&v=0PmNwo34Sl0  Iowa Gun owners and Minnesota Gun Rights are being called out as frauds. These are NAGR affiliates, Monkeyleg and Strings if I recall have also had issues in Wisconsin with a similar scam group.