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Bill Would Allow County Attorneys To Carry Guns On The Job

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By Molly Miles, Reporter - email

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MANKATO , MINN. -

Should county attorneys in Minnesota be able to carry guns on the job?
 
Senator Tony Cornish hopes a new bill he introduced in the House will allow just that.  It's a bill Blue Earth County Assistant Attorney Chris Rovney supports.

Rovney is accustomed to prosecuting criminals, but almost became a victim of one 5 years ago.

Rovney says, "I had an incident where a defendant that I was prosecuting attempted to conspire with someone else to put a hit out on myself, the judge in the case and the head of the drug task force who was also working on that case."

Fortunately for Rovney, the plot was never carried out.

But even if he would have wanted to carry a gun for protection while working, he couldn't.

Rep. Tony Cornish says, "A public defender or a U.S. Attorneys General could carry on duty, but the quirk in the MN law says that a political subdivision can't meaning county attorneys."

Cornish's bill would change that.

The intent is not to have prosecutors pack heat while in court—in fact, judges would still have right to ban firearms from their courtroom—but rather for situations away from the courthouse, which can be particularly dangerous.

Rovney says, "We have contact with a lot of people that aren't going to probably win citizen of the month awards, and sometimes they get upset at us and they make threats, and whether they carry them out or not we would still like to utilize a tool that the rest of the citizens of the state have to protect themselves."

Cornish says, "Now the county attorneys don't have any option except jumping under a desk or running for a door or just praying to God that they don't get shot, under this law they will at least be afforded the opportunity to protect themselves."

Cornish says the bill is backed by the County Attorneys Association and Sheriffs Association.

Cornish says, "It had a lot of support and a unanimous vote, so I really expect the Governor to sign it once it passes in the senate."