Minnesota Annual Conference calls gun law unconstitutional
6/17/2003 News media contact: Kathy Gilbert · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn. By Victoria Rebeck* MINNEAPOLIS
(UMNS)--Religious groups, including the United Methodist Minnesota
Annual Conference, are challenging a recent law passed by the state of
Minnesota that will allow licensed residents to carry concealed firearms
wherever they wish-including church and school parking lots.
The
law even allows people to carry guns into a house of worship without
penalty if the house of worship does not follow an elaborate
notification system.
Edina (Minn.) Community Lutheran Church was
the first church to challenge the law on constitutional grounds. The
church says the new Minnesota Citizens' Personal Protection Act --
commonly called the "conceal and carry law"-- tramples on their freedom
of religious expression.
The Rev. Kent Johnson, pastor of
Excelsior (Minn.) United Methodist Church, agreed. He asked the
Minnesota Annual Conference--in session when the law went into effect
May 28-to support the Edina church's complaint. After passionate debate
expressing opposing positions, conference members voted to join other
religious groups in the Edina church's lawsuit against the state.
"I
am pretty certain we in the United Methodist Church are (on) different
sides on this issue of concealed guns," Johnson said. "I also believe
that whenever we have a chance to test the separation of church and
state we should. I thought this was a good opportunity."
Minnesota
Annual Conference's resolution cited four areas of concern: (1)
restriction on churches' ability to prohibit firearms from its parking
lots; (2) restriction on churches' freedom to prohibit tenants from
allowing firearms in their leased space; (3) burdensome sign
regulations; and (4) a burdensome "personal notification" requirement.
The Edina Community Lutheran suit also advocates the right of religious
organizations to prohibit employees from carrying firearms on official
business.
"The issue is not just the right of sanctuaries to be
gun-free, but also the offensiveness of forcing them to use
state-mandated language," said Marian Saksena of Fredrikson and Byron,
co-counsel for the plaintiffs and a member of Park Avenue United
Methodist Church in Minneapolis.
Saksena said the religious
groups are challenging the law's compatibility with the Minnesota state
constitution because Minnesota's protection of religious expression is
more extensive than that of the U.S. Constitution.
Joining Edina
Community Lutheran so far are the Minnesota Annual Conference of the
United Methodist Church, the Roman Catholic bishops in Minnesota, the
Minneapolis Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,
the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota, a number of synagogues, a Zen
Buddhist center, and the Temple of ECK (Eckankar), in Chanhassen, Minn.
Not
wanting their religious expression curtailed while waiting for the suit
to be heard, the plaintiffs took the unusual step of asking the court
for a temporary restraining order.
"The situation is urgent,"
said the Rev. Jim Perry, Minnesota Annual Conference's director of
ministries, "because vacation Bible schools will start soon. Many
vacation Bible schools take place outdoors on church parking lots, and
churches need to know they can keep their parking lots gun-free."
Judge
Marilyn Brown Rosenbaum granted a temporary restraining order on June
6-but for only two of the groups' five concerns. First, the order
relieves the plaintiffs of the law's detailed signage regulations. The
law requires that signs state, "(Operator) Bans Guns in These Premises,"
use Arial type font in characters 1.5 inches high, print in black ink
on a bright contrasting background, print on paper no smaller than 11
inch by 17 inch, and be posted at a specified height and specified
distance from doors.
These requirements are in general
burdensome, Saksena said. "Most signs I've seen around town don't seem
to comply," she said. "Not everyone has access to Arial type font, or
has a printer that can handle 11 inch by 17 inch paper. If your church's
name is somewhat long, you will have to use paper even larger than the
minimum required."
Furthermore, some of the plaintiffs wanted to
use theological language on their sign. Edina Community Lutheran chose
"Blessed are the Peacemakers: No Firearms Allowed in this Sanctuary."
Mount
Zion Hebrew Congregation, another plaintiff, posts a sign that explains
more fully the synagogue's policy: "Mount Zion Hebrew Congregation has
joined with other religious congregations in opposition to Minnesota law
regarding the carrying of concealed weapons, including its opposition
to the mandated requirement to post signs prohibiting such weapons in
and on its premises. Until such time as these matters are finally
resolved, this notice is intended to serve whatever legitimate and
reasonable provision may be required in this regard by the Minnesota
Citizens' Personal Protection Act of 2003. 'Seek peace and pursue it. --
Psalm 34:15.' "
Rosenbaum also granted the plaintiffs relief
from having to greet each visitor personally with the message that
firearms are not allowed in their house of worship. The law is vague
here; it requires that "the requester or its agent personally inform the
person of the posted request and demand compliance."
"Many times
people enter a church because it is a place for sanctuary and healing,"
said Perry. "The peacefulness of worship juxtaposed with the need to
tell people that they can't carry in firearms and if they have them they
must leave and return only after they dispose of them is jarring."
The
judge also ruled that for the time being, the congregations do not have
the right to prohibit tenants from bringing guns into their buildings.
Edina Community Lutheran, like many United Methodist congregations in
Minnesota, houses a nursery school. Strand said the law interferes with
church's understanding of the gospel's imperative of peacemaking, and
the church's concern for the safety of children.
"This is a
slippery slope," Saksena said. "Religious liberty could be chipped away
by this act. What next might the state require religious groups to post
on their doors?
"The state has to allow religious organizations
to comply in the least restrictive way," Saksena added. She points to
states that allow houses of worship to adopt a policy that prohibits
people from carrying a gun onto church property without the expressed
permission of church officials.
Since the law went into effect,
other groups, in addition to religious ones, have challenged the law on
the grounds that it compromises, rather than protects, public safety.
For example, the board of directors of Hennepin County, where
Minneapolis is located, voted on June 11 to ban weapons from all county
buildings, and cited public safety as the reason.
"My hope is
that congregations will be able to ban guns from their premises if they
desire," Johnson said, "and to do that in any way they like."
###
Victoria
Rebeck is director of communications, Minnesota Annual Conference. This
is a special report written for United Methodist News Service.
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