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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Castle Bill - -A-K-A"Shoot First Bill" - - Bill Drawing Flak

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Wednesday, March 21, 2007   


Proposed state legislation, called the "Shoot First" bill by opponents and the "Stand You Ground" by supporters, would broaden the circumstances in Minnesota in which people could kill without facing prosecution. Heather Martens with Citizens for a Safer Minnesota, which tracks public safety legislation, claims it would abandon the current standard that requires responsibility when using deadly force.

"This bill would change the rules about use of deadly force, so that anyone who opens the gates to enter your yard is presumed to intend harm. So, you can shoot someone for coming into your yard."

Supporters of the bill say people need extra legal protection to defend themselves and invoke Second Amendment rights. Martens says the proposal would make people less safe and make fatal accidents more likely. She adds, while people need to protect themselves, it goes too far.

Ramsey County Prosecutor Susan Gaertner says Minnesotans already have the right to protect themselves if they feel threatened. She says the proposal could ironically make citizens less safe.

"It would create a presumption that, if you shoot someone, that you're doing so in self-defense. Well, that may sound good if you're pulling the trigger. But, if you or your loved one is the one at the other end of that gun, than it's not going to be so good."

She believes the bill isn't based on any problem in Minnesota, but is part of a National Rifle Association strategy to get the law passed in every state.

The proposed legislation is HF 498 and SF 446.




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