New questions on MN's permit to carry application quickly criticized, removed

Minnesota's permit to carry a handgun application added 18 questions recently – but they didn't last long.

The state removed the new queries this week just hours after they went live Monday, when gun rights advocates labeled them as too invasive – and illegal to ask, KSTP reports.

Here's the permit-to-carry form that's on the site as of Thursday morning.

It asks for a lot of the standard descriptions – height, sex, age, hair color, eye color, place of residence, previous residences, etc. etc. Then you need to sign off on allowing a background check to be done. Outside of another John Hancock or two, that's about it for the application. (There are training requirements as well.)

The applications that were nixed included questions about military service, mental illness, juvenile criminal records and more. The Minnesota Gun Owners Civil Rights Alliance saved a copy of the now-defunct form. You can look at it yourself, here.

Here's the problem, the alliance says: That permit is against this state law, which specifically outlines "only the following information" can be asked for on a permit. Questions about mental illness or a juvenile record are not listed under that information.

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The Star Tribune spoke with Heather Martens with Protect Minnesota. She supported the added questions, noting some of what's asked won't show up in a background check.

After the Department of Public Safety was contacted, the new forms were online for less than two days before they were replaced with the versions that don't include the new questions, KSTP says.

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