The other side of that argument, however, is that it didn’t make people safer. Violent felonies in Minnesota were up 2.2 percent in 2004, a year after people could carry more guns. If the fact that 15,000 Minnesotans now could be carrying a concealed gun for self defense was supposed to make criminals think twice, those criminals don’t appear to be too worried.

The real criminals also won’t be deterred by Cornish’s proposal.