The Minnesota Citizen's Personal Protection Act of 2003: History and Commentary

66 Pages Posted: 13 Apr 2013

Date Written: January 1, 2003

Abstract

On April 28, 2003, the Minnesota Senate concurred in House action on S.F. 842 and passed the Minnesota Citizens’ Personal Protection Act (“MPPA”) as Article 2 of that bill on a 37-30 vote after the longest Senate floor debate in history. The MPPA may be the most thoroughly debated bill to pass the legislature in recent years. The earlier House floor debate took over five hours and included consideration of 8 amendments before the bill was passed on an 88-46 vote. The Governor signed the bill later that afternoon and it went into effect 30 days later. Thus Minnesota became the 35th state to adopt a non-discretionary, must-issue system for issuing permits to carry firearms on one’s person in public places.

The process of passing the MPPA took seven years and the legislature history can be reviewed by following the evolution of the bill over those years. The proponents made compromises, good ideas from the opponents were included, and the bill grew in length and complexity as it made its way through the legislative process. This article describes that process and provides explanatory commentary on the resulting bill by a proponent who played a leading role throughout the legislative process.

Keywords: Minnesota Citizens’ Personal Protection Act, MPPA, firearms, guns, longest Senate floor debate

JEL Classification: K32

Suggested Citation

Olson, Joseph Edward, The Minnesota Citizen's Personal Protection Act of 2003: History and Commentary (January 1, 2003). Hamline Journal of Public Law and Policy, Vol. 25, p. 21, 2003, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2070938

Joseph Edward Olson (Contact Author)

Hamline University - School of Law ( email )

1536 Hewitt Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55104-1237
United States

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