New Hope shooter's access to guns raises questions about MN laws

Ray Kmetz was forbidden by law from owning guns, but getting around the law was easy.

Kmetz simply asked a friend to act as a straw man to buy guns, including the shotgun he fired in January at New Hope City Hall, where he wounded two police officers before police returned fire and killed him. Federal prosecutors charged Kmetz's alleged straw buyer, Michael Ronald Garant, with illegally buying the weapons.

Officials cite Garant's indictment as proof that illegal gun buying won't be tolerated. But the incident has raised larger questions about the strength of Minnesota gun laws. Before federal authorities stepped in with an indictment, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office said initially there wasn't enough evidence against Garant to support felony charges.

Gun safety advocates say current law is filled with holes that make it easier for people to illegally obtain guns. While state law, for instance, makes it illegal to knowingly buy a gun for a person who's prohibited from owning one, the word "knowingly" in the law "makes it much more difficult to prosecute," said Heather Martens, executive director with Protect Minnesota, a group that pushes for stricter gun laws.

"The buyer shouldn't have to know that the person is prohibited from owning a gun in order to be held responsible," she said.

Currently, a Minnesota buyer goes through a local background check at a police department or sheriff's office when applying for a permit to purchase or a permit to carry a gun, and then another check by the FBI when purchasing from a federally licensed gun dealer. The law requires permits to purchase pistols and assault weapons — but it's not required for shotguns.

It's also difficult to prosecute offenders if documentation and proof stating clear violations don't exist, said DFL Rep. Dan Schoen of Cottage Grove, who's also a police officer. "That's a problem that we have related to the gun shows and the private sales."

Authorities are also able to trace guns back to original owners if purchased from federally licensed dealers. But in some cases, like a private sale, only the most recent transaction is traceable.

"Once it leaves that dealer it could transfer hands 50 times and no one would know," Schoen said.

Kmetz was the high bidder in an online auction for three shotguns that were actually bought by Garant Aug. 23 at Full Metal Gun Shop in Princeton, Minn. When he came to collect the weapons, Garant allegedly told the gun shop's owner that he used the alias "Ray Kmetz" during the online auction to hide his true identity and then showed the store owner his driver's license.

Kmetz was prohibited from owning a weapon because he was considered mentally unstable. He had been in and out of the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter and Anoka-Metro Regional Treatment Center.

U.S. Attorney Andy Luger said gun owners usually understand the laws and lying on the forms is a federal felony. Convicted felons and mentally ill people are prohibited from possessing guns.

"In reality most straw purchasers know they're purchasing a gun for someone ineligible to own it themselves," he said.

Dealers say selling a gun and having it turn up in a crime is a nightmare scenario for them. People buy guns for all sorts of reasons and transfers from online auctions or other sales happen all the time, said Clay Brisbin, general manager of Bill's Gun Shop and Range in Robbinsdale

Brisbin says when he sells guns he looks for red flags pointing to a straw buyer, including someone who claims to have bought a gun using an alias. It could be a sign of trouble when multiple people enter the store with one person looking at the guns and another purchasing them, he said.

"If something comes up that doesn't sound reasonable," he said, dealers "have the ability to stop and deny them the sale."

In 2013, gun safety advocates lobbied to require a background check at every gun sale including gun shows and private sales. It failed to pass after critics argued it would create a registry of all gun owners in the country. Lawmakers also introduced new language that would've defined a straw purchase as a crime of violence, not just a gross misdemeanor, but that didn't pass either.

When it comes to guns tied to crime, "virtually all of those are bought by straw men, and those transactions, until something occurs, appear to be perfectly legitimate," said Joseph Olson, chair of the Minnesota Gun Owners Civil Rights Alliance.

In the Kmetz case, Garant was arrested and charged with a federal offense, so the law worked as intended, he said.

"If somebody is willing to lie and they themselves don't have a criminal record that comes up," he added, "there is no way you can tell whether they are or not unless you cut off the top of their head and look inside."