Stearns County Sees Spike in Permit to Carry Requests Following Gun Law Change

(KNSI) — Stearns County residents were applying for permits to carry in droves ahead of Minnesota’s law requiring universal background checks.

Stearns County Chief Deputy Sheriff Dan Miller tells KNSI News they’ve seen a 25% increase in permit-to-carry applications since the law was passed in May. “Anytime there’s significant changes to gun laws, we seem to get a huge rush of permit to carry permits that come through. I know a couple months ago, we had a huge rush of them.”

The new rule covers all handgun and semi-automatic military-style rifles being transferred from one party to another. A buyer must have a permit to carry, purchase, or undergo a background check by someone with a Federal Firearms License. Both parties must then fill out the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension transfer form and keep it on file for ten years. Failure to produce the transfer form if asked by law enforcement can result in a misdemeanor charge which is punishable by up to 90 days in jail. It does not apply to traditional rifles and shotguns.

The sheriff’s office also has more time to process a permit to purchase. “Normally, with permit to purchases, we had seven days to process. This new law change allows us 30 days to process a permit to purchase.” It will not require any extra time to process the permit to carry. “We’ve always had 30 days for a permit to carry.”

He says since the law went into effect on August 1st, they haven’t yet seen or processed a single transfer for a firearm.

To get the BCA transfer form, click here.

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