Shall Issue Conceal and Carry signed by the Governor . . .

The shall issue conceal and carry firearms bill was signed by the governor today. Spotty promised a few days ago to tell you about the votes of our legislators here in Edina.

Representative Ron Erhardt is a reliable vote against this madness, and he voted against it again. Spotty says send him an email to thank him for his steadfastness.

Representative Neil Peterson voted for the bill. Spot is absolutely shocked and profoundly disappointed in this vote. If you feel like Spotty, let Neil Peterson know.

And then, we come to the strange and mysterious case of Geoff Michel. Long-time followers of our boy in the Senate know that he was originally an enthusiastic supporter of shall issue conceal and carry when it came up in 2003. He told civic and church groups he was in favor of it, and he told one group of women to "just get used to the idea" because it was coming.

He even voted in the Senate to pull the bill enacting conceal and carry out of committee in the Senate for a floor vote without any hearing in the committee. This was a straight party line vote, and the motion failed. Then a curious thing happened.

The Edina City Council adopted a resolution opposing conceal and carry; many local citizens contacted the senator to voice their own opposition, and on the eve of the vote there was a large gathering of Edina citizens who met with the senator and urged him to vote no. Geoff Michel saw that his position on shall issue conceal and carry was not a vote getter in the district, and he did vote against the final bill when it came to the Senate floor in 2003. He will tell you now at every opportunity that he was opposed to conceal and carry, just like his pal Ron Erhardt.

Spotty and some his more suspicious friends have always wondered (and doubted) whether the senator really had a conversion on the road to Damascus. Spot has always believed that Senator Michel got permission from Minority Leader Dick Day to vote against the bill in 2003 because there were enough votes by a couple for the bill to pass without Michel's vote. Moreover, if his vote had been necessary to carry the day, he would have voted "aye." And Spot believes that is what happened again this year.

In support of his opinion, Spot offers the fact that the senator voted against an amendment to the bill to keep guns out of retail establishments. I am sure this will help keep adolescent boys looking over their shoulders while reading dirty magazines in the bookstores, lest there be any armed evangelicals about!

Senator Michel also voted against an amendment to keep guns out of hospitals and nursing homes. Spotty cannot figure this one out, except maybe it's a move to court the euthanasia vote, which doesn't sound like the senator. (Spotty, by the way, is foursquare against euthanasia.)

If anybody doubts Spot's account of these amendment votes, send me an email and I will send you the Senate Journal pages containing the amendments and the recorded votes.

So, we have a good, a bad, and an ugly voting record on shall issue conceal and carry. That was a long journey for a punch line that bad, and Spot begs forgiveness.

Spot