During the last legislative session, before Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed the gun bill into law, the debate had advocates like John Caile predicting the community would be safer with more law-abiding citizens carrying guns. Certainly, he said, the notion of an armed public would scare off the bad guys. Opponents feared more gun violence. Public safety officials say there's no evidence to support either side.
"It's way too early to tell that. And there's no empirical evidence to indicate either way," said Kevin Smith, spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
Nevertheless, several lawmakers are introducing legislation to reverse the law, and activists like Kate Havelin, with the Twin Cities Million Mom March, hopes that her message now will echo into the future.
"We think that having more guns on our streets, at our places of worship, at the mall, will not be made safer with people with handguns. It's a way to put all of us at greater risk," Havelin said.
9 months after the law, with no measurable effect on safety, and the anti-gun lobbists are still trying to claim "greater risk".
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