July 13, 2004
Judge John Finley ruled the 2002 Legislature violated the state constitution by bundling the conceal and carry gun language with a "totally unrelated bill relating to the Department of Natural Resources."
He said the constitution prohibits laws from embracing more than one subject.
Minneapolis attorney David Lillehaug, who represented Adath Jeshurun Congregation in challenging the law, said Finley ruled that passage of the law was "contrary to Minnesota's tradition of open government."
Last April, state lawmakers passed the conceal-and-carry law, which made it easier for Minnesotans to get a handgun permit and carry a gun in public.
Private building owners immediately began posting signs at public entrances banning handguns. But another provision of the law prevented private establishments from banning firearms in parking lots.
The church leaders filed their lawsuit a week before the law went into effect on May 28, arguing that it often uses its parking lot and leased buildings for worship services and that the church should be allowed to prohibit guns on its property.
Other congregations from different denominations across the region joined the lawsuit.
Minnesota Attorney General Michael Hatch said he will appeal Finley's ruling. Hatch said he was still researching the opinion, but believes that conceal and carry permits obtained since the law was passed are still valid.
He said the whole issue of laws embracing more than one subject has been in debate for the past 10 years.