Looking for citizen input
I invite local citizens to participate in a survey I am conducting to gather input on everything from the state budget to gun laws.
It is amazing how many emails I recently have received from citizens concerned about House proposals which would restrict gun rights. More people are contacting me about this subject than any other so far this session. The vast majority of emailers are urging me to protect their Second Amendment rights.
Our legislative office building was packed with people delivering the same message recently during three days of gun-related legislative hearings. This is a grass-roots effort led by people who do not want the new majority to infringe on our constitutional rights. I spent time meeting with some of the citizens who were gathered and came away impressed with the courteous, respectful dialogue.
Citizen input on this issue is greatly appreciated but it is concerning the new majority would focus on limiting our Second Amendment rights instead of working to enact a new state budget, help people get back to work and grow our economy.
There are a few people on the pro-restriction side of the gun discussion who seem to think the National Rifle Association is a major player on this issue but that simply is not the case. I have not met with NRA officials or received any contributions from the group. In fact, the NRA has contributed relatively little to legislative campaigns in Minnesota. Here is some interesting perspective from a Star Tribune article printed Feb. 4: Between 2008 and 2012, the NRA spent just $5,240 on Minnesota legislative races. In 2012, the liberal group Alliance for a Better Minnesota spent $144,365 to defeat a single legislative candidate in Edina.
As for the proposed gun laws, I encourage citizens to visit www.house.mn to see some of what the new majority is proposing. We all want to keep guns out of the wrong hands but it cannot come at the expense of restricting gun ownership for law-abiding Minnesotans. The last thing we should want is to strip guns from the good folks. People in parts of the state like ours have a deep respect for the Second Amendment and I will continue working to uphold it.
More gun-related bills are being introduced in the House and more details of a full package of bills will be available in upcoming weeks. Until then, please continue to exercise your voice for freedom and let the gun-restriction authors know their proposals to encroach on our rights are unacceptable. And, again, please participate in my legislative survey. I will share the results later this session. You can email me at rep.mark.anderson@house.mn.
State Rep. Mark Anderson
R-East Gull Lake
Comments (14)
Add commentHere's my input Mr. Anderson
I know of 20 6 and 7 year olds who will never get to exercise their 2nd ammendment rights because their "right" to life and liberty were "encroached" upon..........
Was Edmund Burke right when he said "All thats necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing"....????
Are you a good man Mr. Anderson...........?????
Many in the pro life movement are willing to shut down abortion clinics with building code violations.......Does that even things out for your conscience?????
At what point does one right "outweigh" the other?????
One more question
Should one lose their "law abiding" status after a speeding ticket or stop sign violation....???
After all they did at one time break the law......
Ah yes,
we need to throw the Constitution, that has been defended by close to a million men and women's deaths, because 20 children were murdered by a maniac. That really makes sense.
As an aside, where are Joe Radinovich and Rick Nolan's answers on how they will vote?
Is there going to be a special supplement to the BDD now
to include all of the pandering political campaign letters like this one, from every legislator, from now until the gun omnibus bill is voted on? Let's have a contest to see which legislator is the most ardent 2A supporter! The winner gets a coveted "assault-style" rifle for his wife to use to protect the kids while he's away in St. Paul. Gayle Trotter thinks it's necessary: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/opinion/sunday/dangerous-gun-myths.htm...).
Or they could get their "man card" double-punched if they're the winner. http://gawker.com/5969150/bushmaster-firearms-your-man-card-is-revoked#13603813138913This article is a more thought-provoking essay from one gun owner's perspective: http://www.newrepublic.com/article/112194/walter-kirn-gun-owners.
The twits
are at it again. Was it pandering when Ward told us how he felt? Oh, that's right, he's a liberal. I want Rick Nolan and Joe Radinovich to pander a bit and tell us what they plan to do. And you Bubba need to be quiet if you don't have an iron in this fire.
This should
indicate which way Rick Nolan will vote in his own words.
Thank you for contacting my office and sharing your concerns about the need for a comprehensive approach to reduce and prevent gun violence while continuing to protect our Second Amendment rights.
We can no longer ignore the need to implement policies that protect our children and communities confronting the reality of daily gun violence and threat of senseless mass shootings. To that point, I believe the primary focus must lie in better and more holistic mental health care. The perpetrators of violent acts, such as those that recently occurred in Newtown and Minneapolis, demonstrated serious mental health problems and we need to address this first and foremost.
It's a fact that tens of millions of Americans experience mental health issues of one kind or another, many that often go untreated and undiagnosed. While it is rare for mental illness to drive people to acts of extreme violence, other consequences such as alcoholism, abuse, depression and joblessness do render many people frustrated, hopeless and unable to live life to the fullest when absent treatment. We absolutely need to expand our health care system to provide better mental health services to benefit not only those who suffer from these conditions, but also families, friends, colleagues and society as a whole.
I know that responsible gun-ownership is an integral part of our heritage in Minnesota – I am a lifelong sportsman and gun owner, and have hunted in northern and central Minnesota my entire life. The annual firearms duck and deer openers are a family tradition where we enjoy exercising our Second Amendment rights with friends each fall. While I sincerely wish that all Americans held as healthy an attitude and respect for firearms as the majority of Minnesotans do, there is a criminal element in this country that has exploited various loopholes in existing law and legally gained easy access to an arsenal of weapons with the intention of bringing harm to others.
More so, it has become too common for these weapons to fall into the hands of the mentally disturbed and those in personal crisis. Therefore, as I work to commit more resources to help people with mental health issues, I also intend to push for more thorough background checks on gun sales, restrictions on high-capacity magazines and a limitation on assault weapons. I will insist this legislation protects responsible hunters and gun owners by exempting specifically-named weapons used for hunting and sporting purposes and grandfathering weapons legally possessed on the date of enactment.
Finally, as lawmakers consider options that would make it more difficult for troubled individuals to obtain access to an arsenal of guns and ammunition that were originally designed for use on the battlefield, it is important to note the U.S. Supreme Court has strongly affirmed the right of citizens to own guns for hunting and self-protection – just as the Court has similarly determined that the Second Amendment is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for any purpose whatsoever. Previous federal legislation has criminalized machine guns and other militarized weapons (grenades, rockets and missiles) to the benefit of public safety.
Thank you again for contacting me on this important issue. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any additional concerns or comments on this or any issue of importance to you.
Sincerely,
Rick Nolan
Member of Congress
Sure, anything you say, FnB -- I live to take your advice.
Seriously, though, every Minnesotan has an "iron in the fire", and as you could tell by this week's organized effort at the Capitol, every legislator is fair game for lobbying, whether they're your legislator or not. By the way, as was pointed out by someone earlier, Nolan gets no vote on MN State legislation. If you want to know what Radinovich thinks, quit your complaining and ask him -- send him an email, or place a phone call. There's no final omnibus bill composed yet, though, so none of these legislators even knows what will be up for a vote. Just because bills are proposed doesn't mean they'll be in the final product.
Hey fnb
I tend to believe the million died, not fighting for the Constitution, but the people it represents.
I know what I posted was a stretch for some to understand, but one can't sacrifice a virgin to God, why should we have to sacrifice ourselves to your fears.......
I fear not, Lefter.
It's you and people like you who fear people that refuse to be slaves to a totalitarian government.
I think you need to talk to your dad
Bashing all democrats when you need democrats to kill the majority of gun bills wasn't what you observed growing up Mark.
The NRA hasn't spent as much money here because they know that the most restrictive legislation has little chance of passing.
I'm not sure I agree with that--if republicans like yourself insist on repeating the near-past acrimony and blame all democrats there's a chance some on the fence in the metro area might vote yes.
Ask yourself--are you running to please party operatives still--or are you representing your constituents now? If the latter, you need to stop the partisan rhetoric and get to work!
Dillon
Thanks for showing us how far Rick N. is from the people. It is simple are you for gun control or not? Not 7 paragraphs of back and forth talk.BE A MAN SAY WHAT YOU BELIEVE NOT what you want us to HEAR
Dillon
Thanks for showing us how far Rick N. is from the people. It is simple are you for gun control or not? Not 7 paragraphs of back and forth talk.BE A MAN SAY WHAT YOU BELIEVE NOT what you want us to HEAR
Where's the survey?
Where's the survey?
survey?constituents?state unity?
with all due respect are you kidding we need another law realy we dont enforce the laws we have today an it doesnt matter wether its gun laws healthcare wichby the way if ya havent read it I would reckament it as bathroom reading material the fact of the matter is these tragities that have occured for a reason it had nothing to do with laws them laws are already on the books we need to better educate the public on the language of the bills that are out there this is my feeling on the matter 1st come out with the TRUTH for as painful as it may seem it will set you free right now we are a country of free range slaves at the expence of our children we got complacient an lazy we didnt read before we signed the contract,We as a nation need to get past the left right issues we have only one thing it is the constitution an most know very little to nothing about it.