Has Minnesotas Gun-Carry Law Affected Crime Rates?
A new state report says Minnesota’s “conceal-carry” gun law hasn’t affected crime rates one way or the other. Tens of thousands of Minnesotans have become licensed to carry concealed handguns in public since the law was liberalized in 2002. The new report shows that the law didn’t turn the state into the free-fire zone that gun-control advocates feared. But, predictions by gun rights advocates that crime would fall haven’t come true either. Between 2002 and 2005, 174 crimes were committed by permit holders. Only 23 of the crimes by permit holders involved a pistol. They represented only a tiny fraction of the 13-percent surge in violent crime, which experts attribute mostly to demographic trends and gangs. One percent of Minnesota adults now have permits.
