1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to firearms; directing the commissioner of human services to report 
1.3 	mental health commitment information to the National Instant Criminal 
1.4 	Background Check System for the purpose of facilitating firearms background 
1.5 	checks; extending time period for renewal of permit to purchase a pistol from a 
1.6 	federally licensed dealer; providing for an annual background check; requiring 
1.7 	courts to report certain data to the National Instant Criminal Background Check 
1.8 	System for the purpose of firearms background checks; clarifying and delimiting 
1.9 	the authority of public officials to disarm individuals at any time; clarifying 
1.10 	law on use of force in defense of home and person; codifying and extending 
1.11 	Minnesota's self-defense and defense of home laws; eliminating the common 
1.12 	law duty to retreat in cases of self defense outside the home; expanding the 
1.13 	boundaries of dwelling for purposes of self-defense; creating a presumption 
1.14 	in the case of a person entering a dwelling or occupied vehicle by stealth or 
1.15 	force; extending the rights available to a person in that person's dwelling to a 
1.16 	person defending against entry of that person's occupied vehicle; providing for 
1.17 	the recognition by Minnesota of other states' permits to carry a pistol within 
1.18 	and under the laws of Minnesota;amending Minnesota Statutes 2010, sections 
1.19 	245.041; 609.065; 624.713, by adding a subdivision; 624.7131, subdivisions 
1.20 	2, 6, 8; 624.714, subdivision 16; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota 
1.21 	Statutes, chapter 624.
1.22 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.23 	ARTICLE 1
1.24 	PERMIT TO PURCHASE RENEWAL AND BACKGROUND CHECKS

1.25 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 245.041, is amended to read:
1.26 	245.041 PROVISION OF FIREARMS BACKGROUND CHECK 
1.27 	INFORMATION.
1.28 	Notwithstanding section 253B.23, subdivision 9, the commissioner of human 
1.29 	services shall provide commitment information to local law enforcement agencies on an 
1.30 	individual request basis by means of electronic data transfer from the Department of 
2.1 	Human Services through the Minnesota Crime Information System  and the National 
2.2 	Instant Criminal Background Check System for the sole purpose of facilitating a firearms 
2.3 	background check under section 624.7131, 624.7132, or 624.714. The information to be 
2.4 	provided is limited to whether the person has been committed under chapter 253B and, if 
2.5 	so, the type of commitment. 

2.6 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

2.7 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 624.713, is amended by adding a subdivision 
2.8 	to read:
2.9 		Subd. 5.Provision of firearms background check information. (a) When a 
2.10 	court places a person, including a person under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, who 
2.11 	is charged with committing a crime of violence, into a pretrial diversion program before 
2.12 	disposition, the court must ensure that information regarding the person's placement in 
2.13 	that program and  the ordered expiration date of that placement is transmitted as soon as 
2.14 	practicable to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. When a person 
2.15 	successfully completes or discontinues the program, the court must also report that fact as 
2.16 	soon as practicable to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. 
2.17 	(b) The court must report the conviction and duration of the firearms disqualification 
2.18 	imposed as soon as practicable to the National Instant Criminal Background Check 
2.19 	System when a person is convicted of a gross misdemeanor that disqualifies the person 
2.20 	from possessing firearms under the following sections:
2.21 	(1) 518B.01, subdivision 14;
2.22 	(2) 609.224, subdivision 3;
2.23 	(3) 609.2242, subdivision 3;
2.24 	(4) 609.749, subdivision 8;
2.25 	(5) 624.713, subdivision 1, clause (11); or
2.26 	(6) 629.715, subdivision 2.

2.27 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective August 1, 2011.

2.28 	Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 624.7131, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
2.29 		Subd. 2.Investigation. The chief of police or sheriff shall check criminal histories, 
2.30 	records and warrant information relating to the applicant through the Minnesota Crime 
2.31 	Information System, the national criminal record repository, and the National Instant 
2.32 	Criminal Background Check System. The chief of police or sheriff shall also make a 
2.33 	reasonable effort to check other available state and local record-keeping systems. The 
3.1 	chief of police or sheriff shall obtain commitment information from the commissioner of 
3.2 	human services as provided in section 245.041. The chief of police or sheriff must conduct 
3.3 	a background check by means of electronic data transfer on a permit holder through the 
3.4 	Minnesota Crime Information System and the National Instant Criminal Background 
3.5 	Check System at least yearly to ensure continuing eligibility.

3.6 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective August 1, 2011, for all valid 
3.7 	transferee permits issued by the chief of police or sheriff on or after August 1, 2010.

3.8 	Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 624.7131, subdivision 6, is amended to read:
3.9 		Subd. 6.Permits valid statewide for five years. Transferee permits issued pursuant 
3.10 	to this section are valid statewide and shall expire after one year five years. A transferee 
3.11 	permit may be renewed in the same manner and subject to the same provisions by which 
3.12 	the original permit was obtained, except that all renewed permits must comply with the 
3.13 	standards adopted by the commissioner under section 624.7151. Permits issued pursuant 
3.14 	to this section are not transferable. A person who transfers a permit in violation of this 
3.15 	subdivision is guilty of a misdemeanor.

3.16 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective August 1, 2011, for transferee 
3.17 	permits issued under section 624.7131 or 624.7132, on or after August 1, 2010.

3.18 	Sec. 5. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 624.7131, subdivision 8, is amended to read:
3.19 		Subd. 8.Hearing upon denial Petition for relief. Any person aggrieved by a 
3.20 	violation of this section or by denial of a transferee permit may appeal the denial petition 
3.21 	for relief to the district court having jurisdiction over the county or municipality in which 
3.22 	the denial act occurred. The court shall grant an appeal if the applicant is not a person 
3.23 	prohibited from possessing a pistol or semiautomatic military-style assault weapon by 
3.24 	section 624.713. If the court grants relief under this subdivision, the court must award the 
3.25 	petitioner reasonable costs and expenses including attorney fees.

3.26 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective August 1, 2011, and applies to 
3.27 	appeals brought on or after that date.

3.28 	ARTICLE 2
3.29 	AUTHORITY TO SEIZE WEAPONS

3.30 	Section 1. [624.7192] AUTHORITY TO SEIZE AND CONFISCATE FIREARMS.
4.1 	(a) A peace officer who is acting in the lawful discharge of the officer's official 
4.2 	duties without a warrant may disarm a lawfully detained individual only temporarily and 
4.3 	only if the officer reasonably believes it is immediately necessary for the protection of 
4.4 	the officer or another individual. Before releasing the individual, the peace officer must 
4.5 	return to the individual any seized firearms and ammunition, and components thereof, any 
4.6 	firearms accessories and ammunition reloading equipment and supplies, and any other 
4.7 	personal weapons taken from the individual, unless the officer takes the individual into 
4.8 	physical custody for engaging in criminal activity, or for observation pursuant to section 
4.9 	253B.05, subdivision 2; or seizes the items as evidence pursuant to an investigation for the 
4.10 	commission of the crime for which the individual was arrested.
4.11 	(b) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, no governmental unit, government 
4.12 	official, government employee, peace officer, or other person or body acting under 
4.13 	governmental authority or color of law may undertake any of the following actions with 
4.14 	regard to any firearms and ammunition, and components thereof; any firearms accessories 
4.15 	and ammunition reloading equipment and supplies; and any other personal weapons:
4.16 	(1) prohibit, regulate, or curtail the otherwise lawful possession, carrying, 
4.17 	transportation, transfer, defensive use, or other lawful use of any of these items;
4.18 	(2) seize, commandeer, or confiscate any of these items in any manner, except as 
4.19 	expressly authorized in paragraph (a);
4.20 	(3) suspend or revoke a valid permit issued pursuant to section 624.7131 or 624.714, 
4.21 	except as expressly authorized in those sections; or
4.22 	(4) close or limit the operating hours of businesses that lawfully sell or service any 
4.23 	of these items, unless such closing or limitation of hours is ordered during a declared state 
4.24 	of emergency and applies equally to all forms of commerce.
4.25 	(c) No provision of law relating to a public disorder or disaster emergency 
4.26 	proclamation by the governor or any other governmental or quasi-governmental official, 
4.27 	including but not limited to emergency management powers pursuant to chapters 9 
4.28 	and 12, shall be construed as authorizing the governor or any other governmental or 
4.29 	quasi-governmental official of this state or any of its political subdivisions acting at 
4.30 	the direction of the governor or another official to act in violation of this paragraph 
4.31 	or paragraphs (a) and (b).

4.32 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective August 1, 2011.

5.1 	ARTICLE 3
5.2 	SELF-DEFENSE: USE OF FORCE

5.3 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 609.065, is amended to read:
5.4 	609.065 JUSTIFIABLE TAKING OF LIFE USE OF DEADLY FORCE IN 
5.5 	DEFENSE OF HOME AND PERSON.
5.6 		Subdivision 1.Definitions. The intentional taking of the life of another is not 
5.7 	authorized by section 609.06, except when necessary in resisting or preventing an offense 
5.8 	which the actor reasonably believes exposes the actor or another to great bodily harm or 
5.9 	death, or preventing the commission of a felony in the actor's place of abode. (a) For 
5.10 	purposes of this section, the terms in this subdivision have the meanings given them.
5.11 	(b) "Court order" means an order for protection issued under section 518B.01, a 
5.12 	restraining order issued under section 609.748, a no contact order issued under section 
5.13 	518B.01 or 629.75, or a substantively similar order issued by any court in this state, 
5.14 	another state, the United States, or any subordinate jurisdiction of the United States.
5.15 	(c) "Deadly force" means force used by an individual with the purpose of causing, 
5.16 	or which the individual should reasonably know creates a substantial risk of causing, 
5.17 	great bodily harm or death. The intentional discharge of a firearm by an individual at 
5.18 	another person, or at a vehicle in which another person is believed to be, constitutes 
5.19 	deadly force. A threat to cause great bodily harm or death, by the production of a weapon 
5.20 	or otherwise, constitutes reasonable force and not deadly force, when the individual's 
5.21 	objective is limited to creating an expectation that the individual will use deadly force 
5.22 	only if authorized by law.
5.23 	(d) "Dwelling" means a building defined under section 609.556, subdivision 3, an 
5.24 	overnight stopping accommodation of any kind, or a place of abode, that an individual 
5.25 	temporarily or permanently is occupying or intending to occupy as a habitation or home. 
5.26 	A dwelling includes, but is not limited to, a building or conveyance and that building's 
5.27 	or conveyance's curtilage and any attached or adjacent deck, porch, appurtenance, or 
5.28 	other structure, whether the building or conveyance is used temporarily or permanently 
5.29 	for these purposes, is mobile or immobile, or is a motor vehicle, watercraft, motor home, 
5.30 	tent, or the equivalent.
5.31 	(e) "Forcible felony" means any crime punishable by imprisonment exceeding one 
5.32 	year the elements of which include the use or threatened use of physical force or a deadly 
5.33 	weapon against the person of another, including but not limited to: murder in the first and 
5.34 	second degrees; manslaughter in the first degree; assault in the first, second, and third 
6.1 	degrees; criminal sexual conduct in the first and second degrees; arson in the first degree; 
6.2 	burglary in the first, second, and third degrees; robbery; and kidnapping.
6.3 	(f) "Great bodily harm" has the meaning given in section 609.02, subdivision 7a.
6.4 	(g) "Substantial bodily harm" has the meaning given in section 609.02, subdivision 8.
6.5 	(h) "Vehicle" means a conveyance of any type, including but not limited to a motor 
6.6 	vehicle, boat, train, or airplane; a person-powered or animal-powered buggy, wagon, 
6.7 	carriage, sled, or sleigh; a bicycle, pedicab, or Segway; or any other conveyance device.
6.8 		Subd. 2.Circumstances when authorized. (a) The use of deadly force by an 
6.9 	individual is justified under this section when the act is undertaken:
6.10 	(1) to resist or prevent the commission of a felony in the individual's dwelling;
6.11 	(2) to resist or prevent what the individual reasonably believes is an offense or 
6.12 	attempted offense that imminently exposes the individual or another person to substantial 
6.13 	bodily harm, great bodily harm, or death; or
6.14 	(3) to resist or prevent what the individual reasonably believes is the commission or 
6.15 	imminent commission of a forcible felony.
6.16 	(b) The use of deadly force is not authorized under this section if the individual 
6.17 	knows that the person against whom force is being used is a licensed peace officer from 
6.18 	this state, another state, the United States, or any subordinate jurisdiction of the United 
6.19 	States, who is acting lawfully.
6.20 		Subd. 3.Degree of force; retreat. An individual taking defensive action pursuant 
6.21 	to subdivision 2 may use all force and means, including deadly force, that the individual 
6.22 	honestly and in good faith believes is required to succeed in defense. The individual may 
6.23 	meet force with superior force when the individual's objective is defensive; the individual 
6.24 	is not required to retreat; and the individual may continue defensive actions against an 
6.25 	assailant until the danger has ended.
6.26 		Subd. 4.Presumptions. (a) An individual using deadly force is presumed to possess 
6.27 	a reasonable belief that there exists an imminent threat of substantial bodily harm, great 
6.28 	bodily harm, or death to the individual or another person, if the individual knows or 
6.29 	has reason to know that:
6.30 	(1) the person against whom the defensive action is being taken is entering or 
6.31 	attempting to enter unlawfully or by force or by stealth, or has entered unlawfully or by 
6.32 	force or by stealth and remains within, the dwelling or occupied vehicle of the individual; 
6.33 	or
6.34 	(2) the person against whom the defensive action is being taken is in the process of 
6.35 	removing, or attempting to remove, the individual or another person from the dwelling or 
6.36 	occupied vehicle of the individual.
7.1 	(b) An individual is not entitled to the benefit of the presumption in paragraph (a) if 
7.2 	the individual knows that the person against whom the defensive action is being taken:
7.3 	(1) is a lawful resident of the dwelling or a lawful possessor of the vehicle, or is 
7.4 	otherwise lawfully permitted to enter the dwelling or vehicle; or
7.5 	(2) is a person who has lawful custody of the person being removed from the 
7.6 	dwelling or vehicle or whose removal from the dwelling or vehicle is being attempted.
7.7 	A person who is prohibited by a court order from contacting another individual or 
7.8 	from entering a dwelling or possessing a vehicle of another individual is not a lawful 
7.9 	resident of that individual's dwelling and is not a lawful possessor of that individual's 
7.10 	vehicle.
7.11 	(c) The individual using defensive force is not entitled to the benefit of the 
7.12 	presumption in paragraph (a) if the individual is presently engaged in a crime or attempting 
7.13 	to escape from the scene of a crime, or is presently using the dwelling or occupied vehicle 
7.14 	in furtherance of a crime.
7.15 		Subd. 5.Criminal investigation; immunity from prosecution. (a) An individual 
7.16 	who uses force, including deadly force, according to this section or as otherwise provided 
7.17 	by law in defense of the individual, the individual's dwelling, or another individual is 
7.18 	justified in using such force and is immune from any civil liability or criminal prosecution 
7.19 	for that act.
7.20 	(b) A law enforcement agency may arrest an individual using force under 
7.21 	circumstances described in this section only after considering any claims or circumstances 
7.22 	supporting self-defense or lawful defense of another individual.
7.23 		Subd. 6.Justifiable use of force; burden of proof. In a criminal trial, when there 
7.24 	is any evidence of justifiable use of force under this section or section 609.06, the state 
7.25 	has the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant's actions were 
7.26 	not justifiable.
7.27 		Subd. 7.Short title. This section may be cited as the "Defense of Dwelling and 
7.28 	Person Act of 2011."

7.29 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective August 1, 2011, and applies to uses 
7.30 	of deadly force occurring on or after that date.

7.31 	ARTICLE 4
7.32 	RECOGNITION OF OTHER STATES' PERMITS TO CARRY

7.33 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 624.714, subdivision 16, is amended to 
7.34 	read:
8.1 		Subd. 16.Recognition of permits from other states. (a) The commissioner must 
8.2 	annually establish and publish a list of other states that have laws governing the issuance 
8.3 	of permits to carry weapons that are not substantially similar to this section. The list must 
8.4 	be available on the Internet. A person holding a valid carry permit from a or license issued 
8.5 	by another state not on the listor other non-Minnesota governmental jurisdiction may use 
8.6 	the license or permit or license in this state Minnesota subject to the rights, privileges, 
8.7 	and requirements of this section. This permit or license is a valid permit to carry a pistol 
8.8 	within and under the laws of Minnesota for as long as that permit or license remains valid 
8.9 	under the laws of the issuing jurisdiction, and is deemed to be a permit issued under this 
8.10 	section for all purposes.
8.11 	(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), no license or permit from or license issued by
8.12 	another state or other non-Minnesota governmental jurisdiction is valid in this state if the 
8.13 	holder is or becomes prohibited by Minnesota law from possessing a firearm.
8.14 	(c) Any sheriff, on the sheriff's initiative or at the request of a police chief of a 
8.15 	jurisdiction located in the same county, may file a petition under subdivision 12 seeking 
8.16 	an order suspending or revoking the authority of the holder of an out-of-state permit 
8.17 	holder's authority or license to carry a pistol in this state Minnesota on the grounds set 
8.18 	forth in subdivision 6, paragraph (a), clause (3). An order shall only be issued only if the 
8.19 	petitioner meets the burden of proof and criteria set forth in subdivision 12. If the court 
8.20 	denies the petition, the court must award the permit or license holder reasonable costs and 
8.21 	expenses including attorney fees. The petition may be filed in any Minnesota county in 
8.22 	the state where a person holding a license or permit from or license issued by another state 
8.23 	or other non-Minnesota governmental jurisdiction can be found.
8.24 	(d) The commissioner must annually establish and publish a list of  states that have 
8.25 	reciprocity agreements with Minnesota mutually recognizing each state's permits or 
8.26 	licenses to carry a pistol, or that otherwise recognize Minnesota permits to carry a pistol. 
8.27 	The list must be available on the Internet.
8.28 	(e) The commissioner must, when necessary, execute reciprocity agreements 
8.29 	regarding carry permits or licenses with jurisdictions whose carry permits or licenses are 
8.30 	recognized under paragraph (a).

8.31 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective August 1, 2011.