Minnesota Session Laws - 1988, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1988 

                        CHAPTER 584-H.F.No. 2036 
           An act relating to crimes; clarifying the crime of 
          obstructing legal process or arrest; defining 
          explosive fireworks; prohibiting possession of 
          fireworks; increasing penalties for selling or 
          possessing certain quantities of fireworks; providing 
          penalties; amending Minnesota Statutes 1986, sections 
          609.50; 624.20; 624.21; 624.23; and 624.25; proposing 
          coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 624. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 609.50, is 
amended to read:  
    609.50 [OBSTRUCTING LEGAL PROCESS OR ARREST.] 
    Whoever intentionally obstructs, hinders or prevents the 
lawful execution of any legal process, civil or criminal, or 
apprehension of another on a charge or conviction of a criminal 
offense or obstructs, resists or interferes with a peace officer 
while the officer is engaged in the performance of official 
duties, or by force or threat of force endeavors to obstruct any 
employee of the department of revenue while the employee is 
lawfully engaged in the performance of official duties for the 
purpose of deterring or interfering with the performance of 
those duties, may be sentenced as follows: 
    (1) If the act was accompanied by force or violence or the 
threat thereof, to imprisonment for not more than one year or to 
payment of a fine of not more than $3,000, or both; or 
    (2) In other cases to imprisonment for not more than 90 
days or to payment of a fine of not more than $700, or both.  
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 624.20, is 
amended to read:  
    624.20 [FIREWORKS.] 
    Subdivision 1.  As used in sections 624.20 to 624.25, the 
term "fireworks" means any substance or combination of 
substances or article prepared for the purpose of producing a 
visible or an audible effect by combustion, explosion, 
deflagration, or detonation, and includes blank cartridges, toy 
cannons, and toy canes in which explosives are used, the type of 
balloons which require fire underneath to propel them, 
firecrackers, torpedoes, skyrockets, Roman candles, daygo bombs, 
sparklers, or other fireworks of like construction, and any 
fireworks containing any explosive or inflammable compound, or 
any tablets or other device containing any explosive substance 
and commonly used as fireworks.  The term "fireworks" shall not 
include toy pistols, toy guns, in which paper caps containing 25 
hundredths grains or less of explosive compound are used and toy 
pistol caps which contain less than 20 hundredths grains of 
explosive mixture.  
    Subd. 2.  As used in sections 624.20 to 624.25, the term 
"explosive fireworks" means any fireworks that contain 
pyrotechnic or flash powder, gunpowder, black powder, or any 
other explosive compound constructed to produce detonation or 
deflagration. 
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 624.21, is 
amended to read:  
    624.21 [SALE, POSSESSION, AND USE OF FIREWORKS PROHIBITED.] 
    Except as otherwise provided in sections 624.20 to 624.25, 
it shall be unlawful for any person to offer for sale, expose 
for sale, sell at retail, or wholesale, or possess, use, or 
explode any fireworks.  This section shall not be construed to 
prohibit the possession, use, or explosion of fireworks by an 
engineer licensed pursuant to sections 326.02 and 326.03 or a 
person under the engineer's direct supervision when undertaking 
acoustical testing; or sales at wholesale to those persons 
holding valid permits for a fireworks display from a 
governmental subdivision of the state; or sales outside the 
state or sales to licensed professional engineers for 
accoustical testing purposes only. 
    Sec. 4.  [624.221] [EXEMPTIONS FOR LICENSE OR PERMIT 
HOLDER.] 
    Sections 624.20, 624.21, and 624.23 to 624.25 do not apply 
to: 
    (a) the holders of a federal explosives license or permit 
issued pursuant to United States Code, title 18, chapter 40, or 
their agents when the holder or agent is acting in compliance 
with the conditions of licensure; or 
    (b) the holders of permits issued pursuant to section 
624.22 or their agents, from the date of issuance until 20 days 
after the date of exhibition authorized by the permit, when the 
holder or agent is acting in compliance with the conditions of 
the permit and section 624.22. 
    Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 624.23, is 
amended to read:  
    624.23 [CONSTRUCTION OF SECTIONS 624.20 TO 624.25.] 
    Nothing in sections 624.20 to 624.25 shall be construed to 
prohibit any resident wholesaler, dealer, or jobber, from 
possessing or selling at wholesale such fireworks as which are 
not herein prohibited; or the possession or sale of any kind of 
fireworks for shipment directly out of the state; or 
the possession or use of fireworks by airplanes and railroads, 
or other transportation agencies for signal purposes or 
illumination; or the possession, sale, or use of blank 
cartridges for a show or theater, or for signal or ceremonial 
purposes in athletics or sports, or for use by military 
organizations or for use as a bird or animal repelling device.  
    Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 624.25, is 
amended to read:  
    624.25 [VIOLATION.] 
    Any person violating the provisions of sections 624.20 to 
624.24 shall may be guilty of a misdemeanor sentenced as follows:
    (1) if the violation involves explosive fireworks in an 
amount of 35 pounds gross container weight or more, to 
imprisonment for not more than one year, or to payment of a fine 
of not more than $3,000, or both; 
    (2) if the violation involves explosive fireworks in an 
amount of less than 35 pounds gross container weight, to 
imprisonment for not more than 90 days, or to payment of a fine 
of not more than $700, or both; and 
    (3) if the violation involves any amount of fireworks other 
than explosive fireworks, to imprisonment for not more than 90 
days, or to payment of a fine of not more than $700, or both. 
    Sec. 7.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
    Section 1 is effective the day following final enactment.  
Sections 2 to 6 are effective August 1, 1988, and apply to 
crimes committed on or after that date. 
    Approved April 21, 1988