The rush to amend Minnesota's Constitution continues in the Legislature, with Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Vernon Center, now proposing a state constitutional amendment "reaffirming the right to acquire, keep, possess, transport, carry, transfer and use arms for defense of life and liberty, and for all other legitimate purposes..." Any restrictions on this right must be "subjected to intense scrutiny."
He calls it a "stricter interpretation" of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Let's see, we'll soon have to use two hands to count the amendments introduced this year. There is the Photo ID voting amendment, the Supermajority to Raise Taxes amendment, the Making Minnesota a Right to Work state amendment, and of course the Marriage Amendment passed last session.
But there are more. Rep. Phyllis Kahn, she of the "Let 16-year-olds drink in bars if their parents are present" bill, also proposes an amendment requiring a supermajority of the Legislature to submit a constitutional amendment to the people; she also proposes an amendment letting 16- to 18-year-olds vote in local and state elections (if you can get them out of the bars). Rep. Chris Szwedinski, who took Marty Seifert's place over by Marshall, proposes an amendment to prevent the Legislature from meeting in even-numbered years.
Another amendment would keep Minnesotans free to choose their own health care and health care coverage. Another would limit delayed payments to school districts to no more than 10 percent. Another would change the way judges are selected, calling for their appointment by the governor with retention elections to follow.
Of all of them, the last one most resembles what we think an amendment should be, a proposal, produced after a great deal of study, to make a change in the way the state operates for the betterment of the state.