Star Tribune
Federal judge stays ruling on Minnesota gun carry permits for anyone 18 to 20 years old
A federal judge has put on hold her ruling allowing 18- to 20-year-olds to obtain permits to carry handguns.
At the request of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office, U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez stayed the ruling from earlier this month pending appeal.
Three young adults joined with gun-rights advocacy groups two years ago to challenge the Minnesota law barring 18- to 20-year-olds from obtaining permits to carry handguns in public. They argued that the law violates their Second Amendment right to bear arms.
In the underlying order, Menendez ruled for the plaintiffs, saying that her decision was driven by a ruling in last June by the U.S. Supreme Court. But she also expressed concerns about the high court’s standard, which requires governments limiting gun rights to show that their laws are consistent with the historical tradition of firearms regulation.
“Second Amendment jurisprudence now focuses a lens entirely on the choices made in a very different time, by a very different American people,” Menendez wrote.
Ellison’s office asked Menendez to delay enforcement of the order until an appeal is decided.
A 2003 state law overhauling Minnesota’s permit-to-carry standards barred anyone younger than 21 from obtaining a permit. There are exceptions: Individuals don’t need a permit to carry a handgun at home or work, or while traveling between the two locations. Nor do they need one for hunting or target shooting.
Citing safety concerns, plaintiffs Kristin Worth, Austin Dye and Axel Anderson said they wanted to obtain permits to carry handguns for self-defense. All three are from the ages of 18 to 20.
Gun-rights advocates joining the suit — the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, the Second Amendment Foundation and the Firearms Policy Coalition — said they have thousands of members ages 18-20 who would obtain permits and carry handguns if legally allowed to do so.
Requests for permits in Minnesota are not automatically granted. Applicants must prove they have received training and undergo a background check.
Legislators are considering three bills aimed at reducing gun violence, including a measure that would close a legal loophole by expanding criminal background checks for pistols and semiautomatic military-style assault weapons sold at gun shows or online, or are transferred.
Two people from Minnetonka were killed late Friday afternoon when their GMC Suburban ran a stop sign and was struck by a GMC Yukon headed north on Hwy. 169 west of Palisade, Minn.
According to the State Patrol, Marlo Dean Baldwin, 92, and Elizabeth Jane Baldwin, 61, were dead at the scene. The driver of the Suburban, a 61-year-old Minnetonka man, was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The Suburban, pulling a trailer, was headed east on Grove Street/County Rd. 3 at about 5:15 p.m. when it failed to stop at Hwy. 169 and was struck by the northbound Yukon. The Yukon then struck two westbound vehicles stopped at the intersection.
Four people from Zimmerman, Minn., in the Yukon, including the driver, were taken to HCMC with life-threatening injuries, while two passengers were treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Three girls in the Yukon ranged in age from 11 to 15.
The drivers of the two vehicles struck by the Yukon were not injured, the State Patrol said. Road conditions were dry at the time of the accident, and alcohol was not believed to have been a factor. All involved in the accident were wearing a seat belt except for Elizabeth Baldwin.
Hill City police and the Aitkin County Sheriff’s Office assisted at the scene.
Amid the cacophony and chaos of the pregame preparation before a recent Minnetonka High School football game, an exceptional group of six girls is gathered together among the school’s deep and talented cheerleading and dance teams.
The cheerleaders, a national championship-winning program of 40 girls, dot the track around the football field. As the clock ticks down to kickoff and their night of choreographed routines begins, the six girls, proudly wearing Minnetonka blue T-shirts emblazoned with “Skippers Nation” and shaking shiny pom-poms, swirl around the track, bristling with excited energy.
Their circumstances are no different from any of the other cheerleaders with one notable exception: The girls on this team have special needs.
They’re members of the Minnetonka Sparklers, a squad of cheerleaders made up solely of girls with special needs.
A football game at Minnetonka High School is an elaborate production. The Skippers’ recent homecoming victory over Shakopee brought an announced crowd of 8,145. And that is just paying attendees; it doesn’t include school staffers, coaches, dance team, marching band, concession workers, media members and others going about their business attached to the game.
The Sparklers program, now in its 12th season, was the brainchild of Marcy Adams, a former Minnetonka cheerleader who initiated the program in her senior year of high school. Adams has been coach of the team since its inception, staying on through her tenure as a cheerleader at the University of Minnesota.
She started the program after experiencing the Unified Sports program at Minnetonka. The unified sports movement at high schools brings together student-athletes with cognitive or physical disabilities and athletes with no disabilities to foster relationships, understanding and compassion through athletics. Many Minnesota schools offer unified sports.
“I grew up in a household that valued students with special needs and valued inclusion,” Adams said. “I saw a need to give to those students. At Minnetonka, we have a strong Unified program, and this was a great opportunity to build relationships and offer mentorship opportunities.”
Elite runners are in a league of their own.
To get a sense of how far ahead elite runners are compared to the rest of us, the Minnesota Star Tribune took a look at how their times compare to the average marathon participant.
The 2022 Twin Cities Marathon men’s winner was Japanese competitor Yuya Yoshida, who ran the marathon in a time of 2 hours, 11 minutes and 28 seconds, for an average speed of 11.96 mph. He averaged 5 minutes and 2 seconds per mile.
That’s more than twice the speed of the average competitor across both the men’s and women’s categories, of 5.89 mph, according to race results site Mtec. The average participant finished in 4 hours, 26 minutes and 56 seconds. That comes out to an average time of 10 minutes and 11 seconds per mile.
And taking it to the most extreme, the fastest-ever marathon runner, Kelvin Kiptum of Kenya, finished the 2023 Chicago Marathon in 2 hours and 35 seconds, for an average pace of about 13 mph. Kiptum averaged 4 minutes and 36 seconds per mile.
Here is a graphic showing these differences in average marathon speed.
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