It hasn’t been signed into law yet, but it has passed the biggest hurdle. Here in the People’s Republic of Minnesota, a much more 2nd-ammendment-friendly concealed-carry law was passed a few years ago that required county sheriffs to issue permits to anyone that passed a criminal background check, passed a safety course, and was mentally fit. The law replaced an older one that allowed the sheriff to deny a permit for any reason, or no reason at all. The newer law was struck down by an unfriendly judge, not because of the law itself, but how it was passed. The State Constitution here in Minnesota prohibits the legislature from passing ammendments to bills that are unrelated to the bill itself. The concealed-carry law was passed as an ammendment to an unrelated DNR bill.
It was 2003 that the judge threw out the law, sending the state back to the old law. On Friday, the Democratically controlled Senate passed a new bill that is almost identical to the one thrown out in 2003. It has but two minor changes. The first is that it is a unique bill, so it cannot be thrown out for the same reason as the previous bill. The second change involves property owners’ prohibition of guns on their property. In the old bill, a property owner had to prominently display a sign that said that guns were banned on the premises AND had to verbally tell patrons/visitors that guns were not allowed. Under the new law, they can do one or the other.
It still has to pass the House, but the House has never been the problem when it comes to passing concealed carry legislation in Minnesota. It has a Republican Majority, and has passed similar bills many times in the recent past, only to be killed in the Senate.
The Republican governor has said he will sign the bill into law.
Post Script: Somehow I forget to mention that the reason why the Democraticly controlled Senate passed the new bill was because of the “aftermath” of the passage of the last bill. The raving moonbats in the local Liberal media and in the Senate predicted a bloodbath if it passed. An estimated 90,000 people would get the permits, and shootings in Minnesota would become much more common. The body count would be horrendous. Of course that didn’t happen. The number of people who got the permits was smaller than even the most conservative estimates. Also, instead of high body counts, they got nothing. More people have died as a result of the new Light Rail Transit line than have died as a result of concealed-carry. (An old guy walked out on the track before the train was even opened to the public and got creamed.)