No. 31: Minnesotans Like Me Get Carry Permits, Too

With a brand new training certificate in hand I entered the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Building and took the white marble stairwell down to room 22.  The man behind the bullet proof window received my certificate, driver’s license, a completed application and $100.  He made copies then casually asked how many people attended my carry class.

“Fifteen” I responded.

He smiled and handed me my receipt.  “This is not a permit to carry.  It takes 30 days for approval. Don’t carry until you get it in the mail.”

“Understood. Thanks.”  That took all of two minutes.  The entire process was easy although it set me back $211.  My criminal background check came back clean.  The carry permit, which also serves as a permit to purchase, arrived in the mail two weeks later. 

.  .  .

The Minnesota Personal Protection Act (PPA) specified the two-part process I followed to legally carry a gun in Minnesota.  First, I gave my County Sheriff “evidence” of training in safe handling from a “certified” instructor.  Second, my Sheriff performed a criminal background check. 

Minnesota is a shall issue state meaning the Sheriff has no discretion to deny my permit without demonstrating a “substantial likelihood” that I pose a danger to myself or others. Even if I was denied, I could hire an attorney and appeal it.  But that wasn’t necessary.  My permit was approved without so much as a welfare check.  No one contacted my spouse or my doctor. 

Had the County taken that one extra step, it would have learned about my diagnosis and treatment at the Minneapolis V.A. for depression, PTSD and substance abuse stretching as far back as 1992.  Without hesitation my wife would have informed them my medical record contains a V.A. psychiatrist note recommending I “never own another gun.” 

Taken together this seems to rise to a level of “substantial likelihood.”

But the decision is binary under the current law.  There is no middle ground where I can maintain a reasonable expectation of privacy and at the same time protect myself when I’m healthy from times when I am not.  This is a common blind spot appearing in legislation throughout the US and it affects a lot of good people with diagnosis like mine.

Sheriff Departments conducting criminal background checks haven’t the legal authority nor the existing infrastructure to query private psychiatric records for specific information that, when compared alongside records for court ordered treatment, meet or exceed the legal litmus for “substantial likelihood.”  This dilemma is further complicated by Federal mandates (HIPPA Act) requiring health insurers and healthcare providers safeguard patient information.

But debating the supremacy of public policy versus my civil rights is of little use for the moment because for the next five years I can walk into any FFL storefront in Minnesota and walk out with a semi-automatic pistol, high capacity magazines and all the ammunition I can afford.

How many permit holders are there just like me in Minnesota?   That’s impossible to tell.  The Centers for Disease Control reports that each year 6.7% of U.S. adults 18 or older experience major depressive disorder.  “Nearly two out of three people suffering from depression do not actively seek nor receive proper treatment (DBSA, 1996).”

Doing the math, Minnesota can expect, with pretty high confidence, that thousands of the more than 200,000 citizens with permits to purchase - as many as 8900 - will experience a major depressive disorder this year.  And like me, they won't appear on the Sheriff’s radar.  Unlike me, they don’t actively seek or receive treatment.

Let that sink in.