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Taking up arms
As Minnesotans prepare to take advantage of the state's new conceal-carry handgun law, a day in the required certification class reveals what will be expected of them.
BY LISA DONOVAN
Pioneer Press
In the basement of the Roseville American Legion hall, 11 men and one woman crane their necks to hear every word of Joe Olson's lessons on life — avoid fights, but if shooting someone is absolutely necessary, give police the silent treatment until a lawyer is present.
Olson is competing with the voluble bar patrons sitting on the other side of the basement's partition. But Olson, ever the law professor and firearms instructor, presses on.
"We'll try to give you a healthy dose of reality, fear and safety," Olson tells his dozen students at the beginning of a seven-hour, $140 firearms certification class on a stormy day earlier this month.
Those convened are among the first to participate in a class tailored to a new law making it easier for Minnesotans to carry a handgun in public. The class, which touches on everything from Minnesota's self-defense laws to shooting acumen at the firing range, is the first step in the process of obtaining a sheriff's permit under the new statute, which takes effect May 28.
But this is hardly a session on becoming the modern-day cowboy. The class spells out a virtual checklist of reasons not to carry a weapon unless you're confident you can use it and instructs you not to pull it out unless you really, honestly, truly, without-a-doubt believe you're in jeopardy.
"I've been through one of these courses before, and what struck me the most is the liability, both criminally and civilly, for misuse'' of a handgun, says Charles Lane, who already has a permit to carry but is required to take this course under the new law. The Isanti County man's job as a forensic architect and engineer requires him to assess damage to homes and businesses, what caused it and how it can be corrected.
He says people often aren't happy to see him when he's out in the field, so he doesn't take any chances.
"But I find myself only carrying when I need to," Lane says.
RETIREES, TRUCK DRIVER, A JOURNALIST
The rest of the class includes retirees, a truck driver, someone in the computer software business and this journalist — the only woman there. Most currently don't hold a handgun permit, believing they would be turned down by law enforcement agencies that grant permission because they want it for personal protection. But the new law has changed all that, one man says.
"I have not (applied for a permit) knowing I won't get one in the liberal urban cities," says a 25-year-old truck driver who lives in the northwest Minneapolis suburbs. He preferred not to be named in this story.
The truck driver and others in the class may be among the estimated 80,000 new permit holders — a nearly eightfold increase — in three years. With the check of a box, he and the other students declared they meet the new law's requirements to be considered for a permit: None has a history of violent felony convictions, been committed to a psychiatric hospital or been convicted of certain drug laws. At least that's everyone's story.
As president of the lobbying group Conceal Carry Reform Now, Olson knows what this looks like to those who oppose the new law.
"A goodly number of Minnesotans are afraid of us at the moment," Olson tells the class. He says he hopes to read the headlines a year from now showing that crime has not grown with the number of permit holders. His philosophy is that more guns will be in the hands of law-abiding citizens, giving the bad guys pause.
LIFE LESSONS AND GUNS
Olson is a member of the American Association of Certified Firearms Instructors, giving him license to teach about such things as risk assessment, holster fashion and function, and using a gun.
Informed by his days as a criminal lawyer and his current titles of gun lobbyist and college professor, Olson speaks in sound bites, or in chapter titles straight out of a self-help book. The first part of his lesson on this day could be called "Guns and Life Lessons."
"When you carry one, you have tremendous responsibility because you have so much more power."
And while he tells people not to carry a gun unless they are educated about the law and how to use one, he will advise just the opposite to the confident.
"Would I recommend you carry your gun all the time? Yes. Why do I recommend it? Because violence happens all the time, and it's random."
Olson encourages the students to exhibit a mix of confidence and caution.
"A gun never solves the problem, it only alters the outcome," he says.
And while Olson stresses avoiding conflict and its consequences, on rare occasions there is no alternative, he says.
The only time you are authorized to pull your gun and use it is in defense of yourself and others. In order to use deadly force, the elements of self-defense have to be in play.
That means deciding no other type of force will do. That retreating is not practical. That you are in immediate fear of "death or great bodily harm."
It means the attacker must have the means and the opportunity to harm you.
But risk assessment is only part of it, Olson says.
It almost seems as though the stars must be aligned. And that means witnesses will be present to back up your version of events.
Olson advises permit holders to scream at their assailants to drop their gun but not to say, "Don't kill me!" — the word "kill" is the only thing observers will remember.
"Do not yell, 'Go ahead, make my day!' Do not yell 'F—- you!' Keep phrases short and clear to get the message across, so witnesses will hear it and hear it correctly."
He adds: "A permit is not a junior G-man badge. A permit doesn't grant you some kind of immunity. It only allows you to carry it in public."
THE CONSEQUENCES
If you have to shoot and injure or kill someone, Olson says, the police will come. Suddenly you will go from defending yourself against the bad guy to defending your actions to law enforcement. Resist the latter, Olson says, until you can get a lawyer.
During a break, student Dave Mahle, 50, of Inver Grove Heights says he had taken a similar course in Texas and that the instructor was a police officer.
The differing viewpoints offered in each course are interesting, he says.
"In Texas, the instructor talked about how you're going to feel if you do shoot and kill someone," Mahle says, explaining that in both cases instructors stressed avoiding conflict altogether.
Mahle's Texas instructor even talked about the monetary and emotional costs of shooting someone, even if you can prove it was in self-defense.
"It's going to cost you $5,000, even $10,000, if you shoot someone, even in self-defense," Mahle says and adds: "It will take a huge chunk out of your life. You'll never feel the same after an incident."
AT THE RANGE
After Olson's six-hour PowerPoint computer presentation, sprinkled with 10-minute bathroom breaks and a chance to order some lunch, it is time for the final test. It is not a multiple choice or written test. Instead, it is test of proficiency with a handgun at Armored Fire Gunshop and Range in Circle Pines.
The sign on the glass front doors at the range instructs visitors to keep their hands out of their pockets and visible.
Earlier in the day, a poll of the class shows that everyone but the journalist has handled a gun before, which is why she was given a mint green plastic revolver to sit with during the classroom exercise. The idea was to get used to a gun being around.
All but one of the students has brought his own handgun. Several students, reluctant to be quoted for this story, offer their own guns and a few pointers on aiming and breathing.
"You know, they say women are better shooters," a classmate offers, explaining that he had given his girlfriend lessons for her birthday.
"I think it's the way they breathe and how they calm themselves."
In pairs, the students step up to two of the shooting slots — narrow areas that look something like a voting booth at the top of a bowling lane. The instructor has just stapled poster-size targets, a silhouette of an upper torso with a gray background, to a piece of cardboard. Olson programs the targets to slide 15, then 21 feet away, a distance at which there might be a confrontation, he says. The timed exercises call on the shooters not only to hit the center of the target, but also to be able to reload their handgun. In all, each person squeezes off 30 shots.
The shooting comes in bursts, the pops echoing off the cavernous walls.
Each test is a matter of seconds, completed before all the flying shell cases have rested on the floor and the smoke dissipated.
"Piece of cake," one of the students says, holding his revolver case in one hand and his target sheet in the other. He is now certified.
As the students leave, they are promised a book titled "Everything You Need to Know About (Legally) Carrying a Handgun In Minnesota."
It was a long day, but considering the heavy nature of the material, it doesn't seem like it's enough time. Olson admits that might be the case for novices, but most in the class have owned a handgun for years and have a fairly in-depth knowledge of how to handle it — even if they've never taken it out in public.
"With any course, it will be too long for some and too short for others,'' he says. "Someone who's brand-new to firearms, you have an obligation to yourself and everyone else to go out and practice and get a few lessons.
"But you're not going to be a danger — you know that you have to go 'bang' and hit the center of the target, you know that if you pull the trigger, it's going to fire and it is a dangerous situation. You will have been able to save yourself."
ONLINE
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety offers answers to common questions about the new conceal-carry law. Go to www.dps.state.mn.us and click the link under "What's New in Public Safety."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lisa Donovan covers crime and public safety. She can be reached at [email protected] or (651) 228-5591.
http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/5880576.htm
As Minnesotans prepare to take advantage of the state's new conceal-carry handgun law, a day in the required certification class reveals what will be expected of them.
BY LISA DONOVAN
Pioneer Press
In the basement of the Roseville American Legion hall, 11 men and one woman crane their necks to hear every word of Joe Olson's lessons on life — avoid fights, but if shooting someone is absolutely necessary, give police the silent treatment until a lawyer is present.
Olson is competing with the voluble bar patrons sitting on the other side of the basement's partition. But Olson, ever the law professor and firearms instructor, presses on.
"We'll try to give you a healthy dose of reality, fear and safety," Olson tells his dozen students at the beginning of a seven-hour, $140 firearms certification class on a stormy day earlier this month.
Those convened are among the first to participate in a class tailored to a new law making it easier for Minnesotans to carry a handgun in public. The class, which touches on everything from Minnesota's self-defense laws to shooting acumen at the firing range, is the first step in the process of obtaining a sheriff's permit under the new statute, which takes effect May 28.
But this is hardly a session on becoming the modern-day cowboy. The class spells out a virtual checklist of reasons not to carry a weapon unless you're confident you can use it and instructs you not to pull it out unless you really, honestly, truly, without-a-doubt believe you're in jeopardy.
"I've been through one of these courses before, and what struck me the most is the liability, both criminally and civilly, for misuse'' of a handgun, says Charles Lane, who already has a permit to carry but is required to take this course under the new law. The Isanti County man's job as a forensic architect and engineer requires him to assess damage to homes and businesses, what caused it and how it can be corrected.
He says people often aren't happy to see him when he's out in the field, so he doesn't take any chances.
"But I find myself only carrying when I need to," Lane says.
RETIREES, TRUCK DRIVER, A JOURNALIST
The rest of the class includes retirees, a truck driver, someone in the computer software business and this journalist — the only woman there. Most currently don't hold a handgun permit, believing they would be turned down by law enforcement agencies that grant permission because they want it for personal protection. But the new law has changed all that, one man says.
"I have not (applied for a permit) knowing I won't get one in the liberal urban cities," says a 25-year-old truck driver who lives in the northwest Minneapolis suburbs. He preferred not to be named in this story.
The truck driver and others in the class may be among the estimated 80,000 new permit holders — a nearly eightfold increase — in three years. With the check of a box, he and the other students declared they meet the new law's requirements to be considered for a permit: None has a history of violent felony convictions, been committed to a psychiatric hospital or been convicted of certain drug laws. At least that's everyone's story.
As president of the lobbying group Conceal Carry Reform Now, Olson knows what this looks like to those who oppose the new law.
"A goodly number of Minnesotans are afraid of us at the moment," Olson tells the class. He says he hopes to read the headlines a year from now showing that crime has not grown with the number of permit holders. His philosophy is that more guns will be in the hands of law-abiding citizens, giving the bad guys pause.
LIFE LESSONS AND GUNS
Olson is a member of the American Association of Certified Firearms Instructors, giving him license to teach about such things as risk assessment, holster fashion and function, and using a gun.
Informed by his days as a criminal lawyer and his current titles of gun lobbyist and college professor, Olson speaks in sound bites, or in chapter titles straight out of a self-help book. The first part of his lesson on this day could be called "Guns and Life Lessons."
"When you carry one, you have tremendous responsibility because you have so much more power."
And while he tells people not to carry a gun unless they are educated about the law and how to use one, he will advise just the opposite to the confident.
"Would I recommend you carry your gun all the time? Yes. Why do I recommend it? Because violence happens all the time, and it's random."
Olson encourages the students to exhibit a mix of confidence and caution.
"A gun never solves the problem, it only alters the outcome," he says.
And while Olson stresses avoiding conflict and its consequences, on rare occasions there is no alternative, he says.
The only time you are authorized to pull your gun and use it is in defense of yourself and others. In order to use deadly force, the elements of self-defense have to be in play.
That means deciding no other type of force will do. That retreating is not practical. That you are in immediate fear of "death or great bodily harm."
It means the attacker must have the means and the opportunity to harm you.
But risk assessment is only part of it, Olson says.
It almost seems as though the stars must be aligned. And that means witnesses will be present to back up your version of events.
Olson advises permit holders to scream at their assailants to drop their gun but not to say, "Don't kill me!" — the word "kill" is the only thing observers will remember.
"Do not yell, 'Go ahead, make my day!' Do not yell 'F—- you!' Keep phrases short and clear to get the message across, so witnesses will hear it and hear it correctly."
He adds: "A permit is not a junior G-man badge. A permit doesn't grant you some kind of immunity. It only allows you to carry it in public."
THE CONSEQUENCES
If you have to shoot and injure or kill someone, Olson says, the police will come. Suddenly you will go from defending yourself against the bad guy to defending your actions to law enforcement. Resist the latter, Olson says, until you can get a lawyer.
During a break, student Dave Mahle, 50, of Inver Grove Heights says he had taken a similar course in Texas and that the instructor was a police officer.
The differing viewpoints offered in each course are interesting, he says.
"In Texas, the instructor talked about how you're going to feel if you do shoot and kill someone," Mahle says, explaining that in both cases instructors stressed avoiding conflict altogether.
Mahle's Texas instructor even talked about the monetary and emotional costs of shooting someone, even if you can prove it was in self-defense.
"It's going to cost you $5,000, even $10,000, if you shoot someone, even in self-defense," Mahle says and adds: "It will take a huge chunk out of your life. You'll never feel the same after an incident."
AT THE RANGE
After Olson's six-hour PowerPoint computer presentation, sprinkled with 10-minute bathroom breaks and a chance to order some lunch, it is time for the final test. It is not a multiple choice or written test. Instead, it is test of proficiency with a handgun at Armored Fire Gunshop and Range in Circle Pines.
The sign on the glass front doors at the range instructs visitors to keep their hands out of their pockets and visible.
Earlier in the day, a poll of the class shows that everyone but the journalist has handled a gun before, which is why she was given a mint green plastic revolver to sit with during the classroom exercise. The idea was to get used to a gun being around.
All but one of the students has brought his own handgun. Several students, reluctant to be quoted for this story, offer their own guns and a few pointers on aiming and breathing.
"You know, they say women are better shooters," a classmate offers, explaining that he had given his girlfriend lessons for her birthday.
"I think it's the way they breathe and how they calm themselves."
In pairs, the students step up to two of the shooting slots — narrow areas that look something like a voting booth at the top of a bowling lane. The instructor has just stapled poster-size targets, a silhouette of an upper torso with a gray background, to a piece of cardboard. Olson programs the targets to slide 15, then 21 feet away, a distance at which there might be a confrontation, he says. The timed exercises call on the shooters not only to hit the center of the target, but also to be able to reload their handgun. In all, each person squeezes off 30 shots.
The shooting comes in bursts, the pops echoing off the cavernous walls.
Each test is a matter of seconds, completed before all the flying shell cases have rested on the floor and the smoke dissipated.
"Piece of cake," one of the students says, holding his revolver case in one hand and his target sheet in the other. He is now certified.
As the students leave, they are promised a book titled "Everything You Need to Know About (Legally) Carrying a Handgun In Minnesota."
It was a long day, but considering the heavy nature of the material, it doesn't seem like it's enough time. Olson admits that might be the case for novices, but most in the class have owned a handgun for years and have a fairly in-depth knowledge of how to handle it — even if they've never taken it out in public.
"With any course, it will be too long for some and too short for others,'' he says. "Someone who's brand-new to firearms, you have an obligation to yourself and everyone else to go out and practice and get a few lessons.
"But you're not going to be a danger — you know that you have to go 'bang' and hit the center of the target, you know that if you pull the trigger, it's going to fire and it is a dangerous situation. You will have been able to save yourself."
ONLINE
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety offers answers to common questions about the new conceal-carry law. Go to www.dps.state.mn.us and click the link under "What's New in Public Safety."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lisa Donovan covers crime and public safety. She can be reached at [email protected] or (651) 228-5591.
http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/5880576.htm
