CLE: Guns – Criminal Laws and Civil Rights
The criminal defense lawyer members of the Minnesota Society for Criminal Justice often need to advise and advocate for clients on issues related to firearms. A person could be accused of crime based on a gun (for example, felon in possession), or an enhanced charge or sentence based upon a gun (for example, a Minn Stat 609.11 minimum sentence.) Or, a person could be concerned about the future impact on their civil rights to own or possess firearms in the event the person were convicted of a crime unrelated to firearms (for example, a drug crime.)
- Handgun
On July 10, 2011, Thomas Gallagher, a Minneapolis criminal lawyer and current President of the Minnesota Society for Criminal Justice, presented a Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminar on “Guns – Criminal Laws and Civil Rights,” to the membership.
- Possession of firearm by ineligible person, Minn. Stat. § 624.713, subds. 1(b), 2.
- Possession of firearm with removed serial number, Minn. Stat. § 609.667, subd. 2.
- Reckless discharge of a firearm, or Intentional Discharge of a Firearm Under Circumstances that Endanger the Safety of Another, in violation of Minn. Stat. § 609.66, subd. 1a(a)(2).
- Negligent storage of firearms, Minn. Stat. § 609.666.
- False Statement on Application for Gun Purchase (misunderstood legal terms).
- Carry without permit, unless exception applies. Carrying of weapons without permit, non-prohibited persons, (see Minn. Stat. § 624.714, subd. 9). State law prohibits any person, other than a law enforcement officer or a state prison guard who is performing assigned duties, from carrying a pistol in a motor vehicle or in a public place without obtaining a “permit to carry.” A permit to carry is not required to carry the pistol in the following situations:
- in one’s home, place of business, or on one’s land;
- from the place of purchase to one’s home or place of business;
- from one’s home or place of business to a repair shop;
- between one’s home and place of business;
- in the woods, fields, or on the waters of this state for hunting or target shooting in a safe area; or
- in a motor vehicle, snowmobile, or boat if the pistol is unloaded and in a secured box or package.
In addition to crimes based upon prohibited possession or uses of guns, Minnesota has criminal statutes which enhance penalties or provide “mandatory minimum” sentences, if some other type of underlying crime is also associated with a gun in certain ways. Minn. Stat. Section 609.11 is one such statute. Various criminal statutes are listed. If a gun is possessed or used impermissibly in relation to one of those other, listed crimes, then a mandatory minimum sentence can apply. Defense lawyers will try to get a prosecutor to agree to drop a gun enhancement under 609.11. Otherwise, the criminal defense lawyer can make a motion to the court to do so, for example, a Royster motion to dismiss gun enhancement in a drug case. State v. Royster, 590 N.W.2d 82, 85 (Minn. 1999). See also, US v Spotted Elk, 548 F.3d 641 8th Cir 2008) (gun bartered for drugs was not used in connection with.)
Thomas Gallagher
