HF 953 (Paymar Backdoor Gun registry) being heard FRI MAR 6

In response to this:

Dear Representatives:

HF953 is an offensive piece of legislation that needs to be immediately
shot down.

First of all, there are already 4 statutory provisions to block "black
market" purchases of firearms. (1) 609.52 – Theft by the criminal himself,
(2) 609; (2) 609.53 – Theft-once-removed by acquisition from a “fence;”
(3) 609.66 sibd. 1c – Receipt from an accomplice/strawman; and (4)
624.7141 – Transfer to an ineligible person. Do we really need more laws?

According the the BATFE, fewer that 1 in 50 guns acquired by criminals
come from gun shows or private sales. Those that do are purchased via
"strawman purchases" by people who can pass a background check. Anybody
in the business of selling firearms is required to possess a federal
license. The idea of "unlicensed dealers" at gun shows is an insult to
the intelligence of every citizen in Minnesota.

This bill is simply harassment of legal, law-abiding gun owners. It will
have absolutely no effect on crime, because criminals don't use licensed
dealers. Criminals use the black market and smuggled guns, NOT legitimate
dealers or honest private parties.

This bill also eliminates the carry permit as a functioning purchase
permit. Carry permit holders have already passed an extensive background
check. Why do they need to get a second permit with an identical
purchase, if not to merely harass the law-abiding?

It also adds a fee to the permit to purchase and doesn't even bother to
cap the fee! That leaves backdoor gun bans open to any police chief who
wants to set the fee to any imaginable amount. A cursory examination of
the BCA's annual carry permit report shows that "expenses incurred by the
chief of police or sheriff for processing the transferee permit
application." is simply a joke.

And ultimately, the record-keeping requirements turn this into a gun
registration bill, which, as every thinking person can see, is merely a
precursor to confiscation, as history has shown time and again.

Stop this bill. It will accomplish nothing in the war on crime, except to
make a safer working environment for criminals.

Close to 60,000 carry permit holders, hundreds of thousands of hunters,
and well over one million law-abiding gun owners are waiting for you to do
the right thing.

Stop HF953!

Sincerely,
Me