1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to crime; increasing mandatory minimum prison 
  1.3             sentences from 18 months to three years for convicted 
  1.4             felons who unlawfully possess a firearm; amending 
  1.5             Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 609.11, subdivision 5.
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 609.11, 
  1.8   subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subd. 5.  [FIREARM.] ~~(a) Except as otherwise provided in~~ 
  1.10  ~~paragraph (b),~~ Any defendant convicted of an offense listed in 
  1.11  subdivision 9 in which the defendant or an accomplice, at the 
  1.12  time of the offense, had in possession or used, whether by 
  1.13  brandishing, displaying, threatening with, or otherwise 
  1.14  employing, a firearm, shall be committed to the commissioner of 
  1.15  corrections for not less than three years, nor more than the 
  1.16  maximum sentence provided by law.  Any defendant convicted of a 
  1.17  second or subsequent offense in which the defendant or an 
  1.18  accomplice, at the time of the offense, had in possession or 
  1.19  used a firearm shall be committed to the commissioner of 
  1.20  corrections for not less than five years, nor more than the 
  1.21  maximum sentence provided by law.  
  1.22     ~~(b) Any defendant convicted of violating section 609.165 or~~ 
  1.23  ~~624.713, subdivision 1, clause (b), shall be committed to the~~ 
  1.24  ~~commissioner of corrections for not less than 18 months, nor~~ 
  1.25  ~~more than the maximum sentence provided by law.  Any defendant~~ 
  2.1   ~~convicted of a second or subsequent violation of either of these~~ 
  2.2   ~~sections shall be committed to the commissioner of corrections~~ 
  2.3   ~~for not less than five years, nor more than the maximum sentence~~ 
  2.4   ~~provided by law.~~ 
  2.5      Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  2.6      Section 1 is effective August 1, 1997, and applies to 
  2.7   crimes committed on or after that date.