I am proud to represent more than 50 religious institutions in two lawsuits against the so-called "conceal-carry" law. We are pleased that the City of Minneapolis has seen fit to intervene in the Ramsey County lawsuit.
Neal Krasnoff must have sent his E-mail hastily without reading the court papers. Unlike the religious institutions that my firm represents, the City does not allege that its property was "taken" or that it has any religious freedom that was infringed, as Mr. Krasnoff suggests. The City's complaint has one count: that the conceal-carry law was passed in violation of the requirement in the Minnesota Constitution that each law must embrace only one subject. In the State House, the conceal-carry law was slapped onto a bill already passed 65-0 by the State Senate. That bill dealt with, among other things, the state parks working capital fund, fish houses, and littering. It was then sent back to the Senate which, under the rules, could not amend it. The religious institutions, and now the City, allege that the law clearly embraces more than one subject. As an employer, parking lot owner, lessor, and an entity with police powers, the City has a good reason to question this law. It is being represented by the City Attorney's Office, not outside counsel. As to Mr. Krasnoff's argument that the lawsuit would deny him access to armed self-defense against criminal attacks, he can, of course, keep numerous guns in his home and carry them on his property without a permit. But if he wishes to carry concealed, loaded guns in public spaces or on others' private property, the burden should be on him to secure a permit and then obtain permission from the City or property owners, as the case may be. David Lillehaug Minneapolis attorney REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
