Andrew Rothman
Member
As I wrote in my blog...
As rightwingguy reported in Joel Rosenberg's LiveJournal, the Carver County Sheriff's Department refused to accept applications for carry permits today. They were breaking the law when they did so.
You see, the legislature changed the form requirements in the most trivial way: You now have to put the cities as well as the counties and states where you've lived in the last five years. So I guess that means a whole new form.
The law was signed on Tuesday, and went into effect on Wednesday. Naturally, the sheriffs didn't have the new form with the trivial change (although the DPS had a good week to prepare the new form; it's not as if the governor was going to veto the carry law pushed for two years ago!)
Nonetheless, Minnesota Statutes, chapter 624, section 714 (the 2005 law) sets out the application process. It says:
That "section 624.7151" bit is important. It says:Subd. 3. Form and contents of application. (a) Applications for permits to carry must be an official, standardized application form, adopted under section 624.7151, and must set forth in writing only the following information:
(1) the applicant's name, residence, telephone number, if any, and driver's license number or state identification card number;
(2) the applicant's sex, date of birth, height, weight, and color of eyes and hair, and distinguishing physical characteristics, if any;
(3) all states of residence of the applicant in the last ten years, though not including specific addresses;
(4) a statement that the applicant authorizes the release to the sheriff of commitment information about the applicant maintained by the commissioner of human services or any similar agency or department of another state where the applicant has resided, to the extent that the information relates to the applicant's eligibility to possess a firearm; and
(5) a statement by the applicant that, to the best of the applicant's knowledge and belief, the applicant is not prohibited by law from possessing a firearm.
By December 1, 1992, the commissioner shall adopt statewide standards governing the form and contents, as required by sections 624.7131 to 624.714, of every application for a pistol transferee permit, pistol transferee permit, report of transfer of a pistol, application for a permit to carry a pistol, and permit to carry a pistol that is granted or renewed on or after January 1, 1993.
Every application for a pistol transferee permit, pistol transferee permit, report of transfer of a pistol, application for a permit to carry a pistol, and permit to carry a pistol that is received, granted, or renewed by a police chief or county sheriff on or after January 1, 1993, must meet the statewide standards adopted by the commissioner. Notwithstanding the previous sentence, neither failure of the Department of Public Safety to adopt standards nor failure of the police chief or county sheriff to meet them shall delay the timely processing of applications nor invalidate permits issued on other forms meeting the requirements of sections 624.7131 to 624.714.
I spoke with Mike Fahey, the Carver County Attorney. He was polite and pleasant. He confirmed that the Sheriff's department chose to wait for the new forms from the DPS. They received them on Friday and will be accepting applications on Tuesday.
I pointed out that, although it was a moot point at 3:30 on Friday, the law did not allow for the Sheriff to decide not to accept the old forms with the appropriate information (the town/township/city) written in.
He said that the state association of county attorneys and the Sheriff's association recommended waiting for the new forms.
Of course, as I told Mr. Fahey, neither trade association has any legal authority, and that their opinion was trumped by law.
He said he hadn't read 624.7151 yet. Sigh.
In truth, it was overly ambitious of the legislature to expect things to be up in a day, once the slightest change was made. A week would have been fair. Still, the law is the law.
I somehow doubt that the Sheriff would be as understanding if I broke, say, a speed law, because I found it inconvenient.
If you wanted to express to Mr. Fahey's office your concern that county departments follow the law, not their convenience, his email should be [email protected]. His office number is (952) 361-1400.
If you wanted to remind Carver County Sheriff Bud Olson of the same thing, email him at [email protected] or call his office at 952-361-1205.