Furthermore, how does the state plan to fund and process all of the new applications for handguns? Does Pawlenty plan on using the money he took from higher education programs, or is he going to hire back the police that were laid off earlier this year due to budget cuts? Perhaps he should have thought ahead. The conceal and carry law pairs nicely with another law that is likely to pass through the legislature, which would allow Minnesota bars and liquor stores to stay open an extra hour. Drunks with handguns make a lovely combination. Supporters of the new handgun law argue that it guarantees the exercise of Second Amendment rights. However, this country has changed immensely in the last 200 years. A girl at Macalester was raped at gunpoint last week. There were no school shootings or drive-bys in the late eighteenth century. Furthermore, existence of a certain right does not suffice as the sole justification for its exercise. Such advocates should think for themselves instead of becoming Charlton Heston groupies. Minnesota has it all backwards. The way to decrease handgun deaths is to get them off the streets; not hand out thousands more. Although I disagreed with some of Michael Moore’s tactics in his recent film “Bowling for Columbine,” I can’t help but think of the film’s opening scene, in which Moore addresses the dangers of handing out guns to anyone who wants one. When I ponder the prevalence of handguns in the near future and how easy it will be to acquire a conceal and carry license, I think of Moore’s question in “Bowling for Columbine:” “Well, here's my first question. Do you think it's kind of dangerous handing out guns at a bank?”

Opinions Editor Annie Rzepecki is a sophomore from Edina, Minn. She majors in English.

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