Judges will have more options in sentencing someone who brings a firearm to a place of learning.
Sponsored by Rep. Sandra Peterson (DFL-New Hope) and Sen. Ann Rest (DFL-New Hope), a new law will increase the maximum penalty for knowingly possessing, storing or keeping a firearm on school grounds from two years imprisonment and a $5,000 fine to five years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine. Peterson noted the current maximum penalty for bringing a gun to a courthouse or library is already five years behind bars.
Signed April 22 by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, the law takes effect Aug. 1, 2010.
It also decreases to a gross misdemeanor the penalty if someone “uses or brandishes a replica firearm or a BB gun while knowingly on school property,” and decreases the penalty for possessing, storing or keeping a replica firearm or BB gun on school property from a gross misdemeanor to a misdemeanor.
Opponents expressed concern that a student who inadvertently leaves a gun or hunting knife in their trunk could face these penalties.
This law just allows for tougher sentences, Peterson said, rather than “a slap on the wrist” for students with intent to do bodily harm.
HF3423/
SF2339*/CH268
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