Washington Times commentator Emily Miller recently started a series of articles about buying a gun in Washington, DC.
Living in Minnesota, it's easy to forget just how bad it is in other states. If I wanted to buy a pistol in Minnesota, it's a pretty simple affair. Just acquire a Permit to Purchase for free from my Police Department (which takes seven days), go to the gunshop, and buy what I want. The Permit to Purchase is good for one year.
Alternately, you can acquire a Permit to Carry from your Sheriff, which is more expensive (around $100 for the training and another $100 for the permit fee) but good for 5 years. Of course, there is the added benefit of being able to actually carry your gun once you get the Permit.
On a trip through Illinois some time back, a friend of mine and I stayed over in a hotel in a suburb of Chicago. Complying our best with the Federal "Safe Passage" law, we had our guns locked in cases. As my friend prepared for bed, he uncased his pistol, loaded it, and put it on the nightstand. I pointed out to him that this was illegal.
"What do you mean?" he asked. "We're renting this hotel room, it's our home for the night."
"That's true" I agreed, but in Illinois it's illegal for us to possess a firearm - even in our own home - without a Firearms Owner ID card (FOID card), which we can't acquire as non-residents.
The reality of that sunk in. In Illinois, it's a felony to do something that we do in Minnesota every single day! Depending on local law, just having a gun on your nightstand could equal a lengthy prison sentence.
For the most part, we feel secure in our gun rights in Minnesota. But we should never forget that with just a couple of legislative moves, we could be living the life of gun owners in Illinois or DC.
Click here to read Emily's saga of buying a gun in DC
My next Permit to Carry Classes are in Kenyon, Minnesota on Oct. 15 and Minneapolis on Oct. 16. Drop me a line if you would like to sign up!
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