I like how "spokesman" Stumne likes to make up sh!t as he goes...

Mr. Walsh,

This e-mail is in reference to your story "Report of man with gun prompts sweep of St. Paul College" found online at http://www.startribune.com/local/60708642.html?

While all responsible firearms instructors and owners certainly hope this turns out to be nothing, I feel compelled to correct an assertion school spokesman Jim Stumne made.

From your story:
St. Paul College does not have posted the commonly seen signs that declare guns "banned on these premises." However, Stumne said, "It's against the law to bring weapons onto a state campus like this."

Stumne is incorrect in citing the state law. St. Paul College, as a public college and member of MNSCU may have an administrative policy banning firearms for students and employees. While they may impose academic and administrative sanctions. Since St. Paul College is not a K-12 Educational facility, it is NOT illegal to posess a firearm on their campus with a permit to carry.


The relevant section of MN Statute:
(http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/data ... 4/714.html):

" Subd. 18. Employers; public colleges and universities.

(a) An employer, whether public or private, may establish policies that restrict the carry or possession of firearms by its employees while acting in the course and scope of employment. Employment related civil sanctions may be invoked for a violation.

(b) A public post secondary institution regulated under chapter 136F or 137 may establish policies that restrict the carry or possession of firearms by its students while on the institution's property. Academic sanctions may be invoked for a violation.

(c) Notwithstanding paragraphs (a) and (b), an employer or a postsecondary institution may not prohibit the lawful carry or possession of firearms in a parking facility or parking area. "
[...]
"Subd. 23. Exclusivity. This section sets forth the complete and exclusive criteria and procedures for the issuance of permits to carry and establishes their nature and scope. No sheriff, police chief, governmental unit, government official, government employee, or other person or body acting under color of law or governmental authority may change, modify, or supplement these criteria or procedures, or limit the exercise of a permit to carry. "

This means that while St. Paul College may invoke academic or employment sanctions on an employee or student, the sanctions have no effect on a law abiding permit holder not employed by nor attending the institution. Even for an employee or student, a MNSCU / St. Paul College administrative policy may have been broken but not the law.

Stumne would be more correct in asserting the following:
It is against St. Paul College policy for a student or employee to have a firearm on campus, even with a valid permit to carry.

Paul Bxxxxxx
Certified firearms instructor
NRA certified basic pistol and personal protection in the home
MADFI certified carry permit instructor (http://www.madfi.org)
MN Tactics certified carry permit instructor (http://www.mntactics.com)

to: jim.stumne@saintpaul.edu; craig.anderson@saintpaul.edu
Gentlemen,

I expect that facts and accuracy are very important to you as representatives of a public educational institution furthering the quest for knowledge and truth. After all “It's not what we don't know that hurts us, it's what we do know that isn't so.” - Will Rogers

I invite your attention to the following inaccuracy.

Paul B******

The state's "conceal and carry" statute bans weapons possession without a permit on public- and private-school property up through 12th grade but not on college property.

St. Paul College, as part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system, does have a policy against students and employees possessing a firearm on school property, but it cannot prevent properly permitted visitors from being armed.

Report of man with gun prompts sweep of St. Paul college

By PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune

Last update: September 23, 2009 - 3:06 PM

The main building at St. Paul College is undergoing an extensive security sweep after a student reported seeing a man in an elevator with a gun in his hand, police officials said.

Starting about 11 a.m., a lockdown was first put in place -- meaning no one could enter or leave the building -- and that was followed about two hours later by an evacuation out the main entrance of the two-year college on Marshall Avenue, said school spokesman Jim Stumne.

"Students are walking out right in front of me," Stumne said early this afternoon. "St. Paul police have it well under control."

Authorities have yet to find anything suspicious, said police spokesman Sgt. Paul Schnell, adding that the sweep should be complete around 3 p.m.

Classes for the afternoon have been canceled, school officials said. Barring a troubling discovery, the building is expected to be reopened by about 4 p.m., allowing evening classes to be held as scheduled, Stumne said.

Shortly after 11 this morning, a female student reported to school officials that she saw "this gun was out and at some point it was in the man's hand," Schnell said. "At one point, he reached out and grabbed a gun from a ledge or something in an elevator, and that's what caught her attention."

School officials then relayed the information to police.

The state's "conceal and carry" statute bans weapons possession without a permit on public- and private-school property up through 12th grade but not on college property.

St. Paul College, as part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system, does have a policy against students and employees possessing a firearm on school property, but it cannot prevent properly permitted visitors from being armed.

The student who made the report "is not just a person who saw someone with a holstered weapon," Schnell said, explaining the thinking behind the extensive security response. "I don't think it was the legislative intent to allow people to wave a gun around."

The 7,000-student school is on Marshall Avenue in the heart of the city's Cathedral Hill section. It is the oldest of the metro area's public two-year colleges.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482

Well, looky here... The Strib reporter fixed the quote, after I called him.

Anybody seen Josh Hendrickson lately?

I am trying to remember the last time I saw a "ledge" in an elevator. They must have some odd elevators there.

That test the gal wanted to get out of must have been one hell of a doozy!

Just kidding. Or...

Hmm.