Senator Doll,

After reading through S.F. 1165 and noticing your name on the bill as a co-author, I am wondering why you would support such legislation.  To me these tactics have been tried in other states with no reduction in crime and only a large increase in costs to law-abiding gun owners.

I call out my specific objections to the bill below:

Section 5 of the bill clearly proposes a gun registration database.  Who will bear the costs for administration of this system and to what end?  The criminals who obtain firearms illegally will still obtain them illegally and you will be left with a database of law-abiding gun owners.

Subd. 7a of the bill will add expense only to law-abiding gun owners who are able to legally purchase the firearms.  Federal Firearms dealers will charge to process the firearm and perform the background check.  This can add $50 to the price of a gun which sometimes doubles the cost of the purchase.

It has been said that this bill doesn’t affect hunters.  I choose to hunt with old military surplus weapons because the firearms and ammunition is very affordable.  The .30 caliber rifle I use to hunt with is included in the list of “Assault Weapons” which the BCA maintains.

I am currently a permit to carry a firearm under State Statute 624.714.  Section 11 removes my permit as a viable permit to acquire.  This section will require me to renew a Permit to Acquire each year that I want to purchase a firearm at a cost which will likely be over $100.  Again this is adding an unnecessary tax which will be paid only by the law abiding gun owners.

Similar legislation has been tried in California with no reduction in violent gun crimes.  I invite you to review a recent research paper published by the University of Maryland Criminology Department reviewing violent gun crimes over an 11-year period between Texas and California.  These states were chosen as they are the most populous and their firearms laws fall on separate ends of the spectrum.  Their conclusion “tighter regulation of gun shows does not appear to reduce the number of firearms-related deaths”

This is bad legislation which will only affect law-abiding gun owners and has yet to prove it’s merit in reducing crime.  I strongly urge you to reconsider your position on this bill.

Your constituent,

–
Marc