Gun Legislation: Anatomy of One Case - Valley News Live - KVLY/KXJB - Fargo/Grand Forks

Gun Legislation: Anatomy of One Case

  The National Debate on gun control began with dramatic testimony in Washington D.C..

  We have a local look at proposed gun legislation, through the eyes of law enforcement.

  Out on patrol, law enforcement officers never know when a gun is going to show up and turn a routine traffic… into a potentially life and death situation.

Reporter: "It quickly changes the tone of an arrest?"

Chief Tim Motherway, Crookston Police: "Oh, absolutely."

  Case in point. .. Tuesday afternoon a State Patrol Officer stopped Kyle Delonais, while he was riding what turns out to be a stolen motorcycle, through downtown Crookston. During a pat down, the officer found a concealed handgun.

   Delonais surrendered without incident. But, he remains in jail on several charges, including, felon in possession of a firearm and carrying a pistol without a permit

   Today, Captain Mike Hanson of the State Patrol tells me, they have not been able to trace the origin of Delonais's handgun. Hanson says they may never know.

   And while proposed gun legislation does not specifically target handguns, officials say in cases where people don't follow the rules, proposed legislation for background checks is also irrelevant, since people get the guns anyway. …guns that are everywhere and easy to buy.

Reporter: "But if I buy from an individual there's no registration?"

Chief Motherway: "Correct."

Reporter: "And it's perfectly legal?"

Motherway: "Correct."

Reporter: "And there's millions of them out there?"

Motherway: "There's million of them out there."

   Motherway and Polk County Sheriff, Barb Erdman says they'll reserve comment on any changes to current gun legislation.

Sheriff Barb Erdman, Polk County: "But I guess I'm not going to comment until I wait and see what happens. I'm a proponent obviously of the 2^nd Amendment to our Constitution. But, I also believe we need to keep the citizens safe as well."

   Captain Mike Hanson of the Minnesota State Patrol says, it's his personal opinion is that the genie is already out of the bottle. That since there are already so many guns out there, legislation will have to focus on mental health issues.