Temporary Injunction For Churches Against MN Concealed Carry

The Associated Press reported yesterday that Hennepin County, Minnesota District Judge LaJune Thomas Lange granted two Twin Cities churches a temporary injunction against enforcement of Minnesota's concealed carry law. The statute requires churches that wish to exclude firearms to post signs with specific wording. It also allowed concealed weapons in church parking lots and in church premises leased to other groups. (See prior posting.) One church ignored the required wording and put up signs that read "Blessed are the peacemakers. Firearms are prohibited in this place of sanctuary.'' The temporary injunction applies until a trial is held. The judge said that the statute "impermissibly intrudes into the free exercise of religion by arbitrary definitions, which dictate restrictions on the use of church property for worship, childcare, parking and rental space."