The Minnesota Court of Appeal recently made an interesting ruling. The court concluded that a car’s interior may be a public space if it sits atop a public road.
The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the interior of a vehicle is a “public place” if it is driven on public roads, in a case involving a criminal charge over a BB gun found under a driver’s seat. MSN
We at Home-Economic.com like to think through public and private spaces. Typically, what is considered public is defined by access. If anyone can stroll into a park, it is a public space. If you can walk through the doors of the public library, have a seat in a nice armchair, and read for a couple of hours, then it is a public space.
So, is public transit public in the same way? One might argue it is not. You can board the bus if you pay a fee. It is more of a service subsidized by the public and charged at a reduced rate. Is the interior of the bus a public space? In the sense that the buses are owned, usually by a metropolitan community, then it is public to the municipality. Yet- to board a passenger still needs to come up with the fee. Thus, there is a bit of the private side of life to the transaction.
In looking for perspectives on how to consider the interior space in a privately owned vehicle, the court considered this:
In trying to clearly define what exactly is a public place in relation to a person’s vehicle, McKeig’s opinion focused first on Minnesota legal statute concerning the transportation of firearms, explaining how the law allows for legal firearm possession in a vehicle: “A person may only transport a firearm in a motor vehicle under certain conditions, including in a gun case, unloaded and in the closed trunk of the vehicle, or with a valid permit.”
It seems a little unusual to me to look for the lines between what is private and what is public in a law regarding the use of firearms. But far be it for me to judge! I have no legal training.
It just seems that if a car is privately ownedand can be contained and controlled by its owner, it should be considered entirely private, even if it sits on a public road.
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