Remember – the way to tell when “progressives” are lying about gun laws is “check to see if their lips are moving”.

Since we have hearings this afternoon, and there wil likely be a floor vote soon, it”ll be good to get clear on a couple of the “points” in the left’s “argument” against the Stand  Your Ground bill:

The Bill Does: Adds “Stand Your Ground” to Minnesota’s self-defense law. It removes  the requirement that an intended victim of violent crime must retreat from a place where he has a right to be before using deadly force in self defense.

The Bill Does Not: Allow people to shoot people who wander onto their property.  While the unclear and capricious “duty to retreat” is eliminated, the requirement that lethal force be reasonable, and the fear of death or great bodily harm be legitimate, do not change.  This is a point that Twin Cities’ “progressives” have been playing fast and loose.  Read: Lying.

The Bill Does: Enhance the “Castle Doctrine”. The proposal clarifies when and under what circumstances individuals can legally use deadly force to protect themselves in their homes and vehicles. It also creates a presumption that, when faced with an apparent home invasion, carjacking or kidnapping attempt, a person may use deadly force in self defense.

The Bill Does Not: Allow people to shoot people for trivial reasons.  “Progressives” want you to believe that the bill will allow you to shoot people who “give you the stink eye”.  They say this because lies are all they have.

The Bill Does: Prevent Gun Seizures During States of Emergency. It bans government agencies from seizing guns or ammo, revoking permits to purchase or carry, closing gun shops, or otherwise suspending our constitutional rights during civil emergencies. It also prohibits law enforcement officers from seizing a person’s gun (unless the person is arrested, and the gun is evidence of a crime).

The Bill Does Not: Give people a “get out of jail free card” for killing people when self-defense is not justified.

The Bill Does: Improve State Background Checks.  It requires the Minnesota Department of Human Services and state courts to make their background check records available electronically to authorized agencies, including the National Instant Background Check system (NICS), the “instant background check” database that controls handgun sales nationwide.  This process was supposed to have been in place 16 years ago – that’s your bureaucracy at work!  It should reduce purchasing delays and ensure that state and federal checks produce the same results.

The Bill Does Not: Make it easier to kill people in domestic arguments.  Just the opposite.

What The Bill Does: Create a more robust appeal process for denied purchase permits, and requiring that police chiefs and sheriffs whose purchase permit denials are overturned must pay the applicants’ legal costs.  Y’know – requires them to follow the law, rather than their bureaucratic whim.

The Bill Does Not: Give gun owners the right to kill deputies and cops that irritate them.  No “progressive” has suggested it would – yet – but you know those wacky “progressives”; it won’t take ’em long.

The Bill Does: Adds Universal Carry Permit Acceptance.  It updates Minnesota’s carry permit reciprocity standards, allowing people holding carry permits from any other state to carry in Minnesota (subject to Minnesota’s laws). This should result in a large increase in the number of states where Minnesota permit holders can carry, since many states allow other states’ permit holders to carry on a reciprocal basis.

The Bill Does Not: Let anyone kill anyone for trivial reasons.  Period.  End of sentence.  Anyone who says otherwise is lying.

The Bill Does: Give self-defense shooters the presumption of innocence until guilt is proven.  Currently, self-defense shooters must, in effect, say “yes, I’m guilty, but here’s my excuse” – a profound legal risk that not even serial killers face.

That’s really all that matters.