Becker County comes out against controversial gun storage bill

DETROIT LAKES — The Becker County Board on Tuesday came out strongly against bills in the Minnesota House and Senate (HF 396, SF 1723) that would make it a felony if an unsecured household gun is used in a violent crime, or if a child or ineligible person gets hold of it.

The House bill makes it a misdemeanor if a home-based gun is not “stored unloaded with a locking device and separately from its ammunition."

Examples of locking devices in the House bill include “a biometric lock; a trigger lock; a barrel lock; a cylinder lock; a gun vault; a locked cabinet; a locked box; or any other appropriate locked container.”

It becomes a gross misdemeanor “if the gun is not secured, and is either loaded, or in the immediate area of, the unsecured firearm's ammunition,” according to the House bill.

Opponents believe the bills are overly-intrusive and defeat the purpose of keeping a gun for quick-action home defense.

The House bill has raised the ire of a number of Minnesota sheriffs, including Becker County Sheriff Todd Glander, in part because it also requires law enforcement officers to store their guns in a “quick access safe” at home.

Becker County Board Chair Barry Nelson agreed with Glander’s position. “That (bill) is just ridiculous,” he said at Tuesday’s board meeting.

Becker County Commissioner Richard Vareberg said that he has received “lots of calls about our second Amendment and concerns about our new commissioners.”

He said many people were calling for the county to become a Second Amendment Sanctuary County.

But the county is already a “Dedicated Second Amendment County,” Nelson pointed out — action that was taken in April of 2021.

The County Board voted unanimously at that time to approve the resolution, which affirms the rights under the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment for county residents to own guns.

At that time, the decision was made before a standing-room-only crowd in the commissioners’ room at the courthouse. Asked by a commissioner for an unofficial show of hands before the board vote, the vast majority of the audience supported the resolution.

Vareberg and Nelson on Tuesday agreed that whether the county calls itself a Dedicated Second Amendment County or a Second Amendment Sanctuary County, it’s pretty much a ceremonial designation either way, since the county is required to follow the laws of the state.

“I think a letter to our legislators would carry a lot more weight,” Nelson said, particularly since Sen. Rob Kupec, DFL-Moorhead, has expressed concerns about the Senate bill.

“I’d like to see the county draft a letter of opposition like Sheriff Glander did, opposing the legislation,” Nelson added.

The board approved the letter unanimously, and it will be signed individually by commissioners.