Associated Press
ANOKA, Minn. -- A 34-year Anoka man held his permit to carry a concealed weapon for eight days before committing a crime and apparently becoming the first Minnesotan to have his permit suspended under the state's new gun law.
Damian Petersen was in his driveway when he got into an argument with his 36-year-old brother in July, according to the criminal complaint.
Petersen's brother began ramming his car into a retaining wall and the side of his house. When he wouldn't stop, Petersen "emptied the entire magazine" of a semiautomatic handgun into the car's hood, in an attempt to "kill the motor," court records said.
"Some things happen without you thinking too much," he told KSTP-TV.
ADVERTISEMENT
When police pulled his brother's car over on an Anoka County road minutes later, steam was pouring out of 11 bullet holes in the hood.
Petersen said he thinks he should still be legally entitled to carry a concealed weapon in public because he was protecting his own property.
Petersen also admitted to firing at least one shot at his brother's car as he drove away. He said he felt bad because the incident upset his neighbors. Many of them have children who play nearby.
"I probably jumped the gun a little bit," he said.
He recently pleaded guilty to reckless discharge of a firearm, a felony.
Joe Olson, president of Concealed Carry Reform
Michael Campion, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said his department's system for tracking gun permit data was not yet working, but the suspension of Peterson's license was the first he had heard of.
