Gun Control Activist Prompts Second Amendment VS First Amendment Rights Battle In Minnesota

A Minnesota gun control activist sparks quite a Second Amendment and First Amendment rights debate after placing a large sign in her yard announcing to the world that her neighbor carried a gun — and she didn’t like it. Matthew Halleck, an Olmstead County resident, said keeping his two daughters safer is his primary concern, so he garnered a concealed carry permit to achieve his goal.

Kimberly Edson, Matthew Halleck’s neighbor, decided to alert the neighborhood that at least one resident possessed a concealed carry permit. “This man carries a loaded gun around your children every day,” her sign read. While some residents may have become alarmed by such an exercise of Second Amendment rights, others felt Halleck made the block a lot safer.

“Since we don’t have a way to stop him, we felt it was important to notify the neighborhood and the parents that there is an armed man in their presence. The first couple of days of school he had it very visible, we saw it and were quite concerned,” Kimberly Edson told ABC News 6. “He has a Second Amendment right to carry the gun, I have my First Amendment to say that I don’t like it,” she added.

Kimberly Edson was reportedly most concerned about gun being carried near school property. Although some folks feel the gun free zone signs at public schools offer protection for the students and staff inside, others feel such bulletins merely put a very visible target on the backs on children. “I have a responsibility to help create the kind of community I want to see, and I don’t want to see a community where there are guns around schools,” she said. The gun owner alert sign also include a photo of Helleck.

“It’s not crossing the street here, where the sidewalk is, it’s making sure it’s concealed so the kids can’t see it,” Matthew Halleck said when asked about carrying a gun on the way to Harriet Bishop Elementary School and any potential negative impact a firearm in the hands of a legal gun owner would have on the elementary school children. “If it heightens the awareness for folks out there that are confident enough, and see the changes in the world to add an extra layer of protection, I encourage people to do it,” the Minnesota man said about the concealed carrying of a firearm.

Halleck reportedly called the local police station regarding the gun control sign, which was removed quickly. “I’m going to protect my children any way I can,” he said. Neither Halleck nor Edson appear to be backing down from their respective gun rights and free speech rights positions, or changing their habits, any time soon.

Edson is reportedly planning on posting more signs about the concealed carry permit holder around the area. Halleck told the local news media that he is considering a libel lawsuit against his neighbor.

What do you think about the Minnesota man with a concealed carry permit taking his gun with him while getting his daughters to school?

[Images via: Shutterstock.com and Buzzpo]