Minnesota’s Legislature passed a law Monday making permits to carry handguns in public available to more people. Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed the law Monday night and it is scheduled to go into effect 30 days from then.

Eventually, according to an official legislative estimate, it could increase the number of people licensed to tote guns on Minnesota streets from fewer than 12,000 now to about 90,00 in three years.

Under the new system, sheriffs will be required to issue permits to all applicants 21-or-older who meet standards of U.S. citizenship or residency, handgun safety training and a criminal and mental health background check.

A main argument for the law is personal safety. People who receive a permit are required to take a course, but this does not ensure that all of these people will react reasonably in an intense situation. There are numerous less harmful options to protect oneself or fend off an attacker.

The people carrying the guns may feel safer, but those who choose to remain gunless have to live with the fear that the person sitting next to them on the bus to work may be packing heat. Americans should not be expected to live in this culture of fear.

Passing this law also means an increase in security measures for buildings and arenas. Also, the dozen states with the highest rates of firearm deaths all have the system Minnesota is adopting.

In deciding this law, the Legislature should have taken a Utilitarian approach to the problem and asked, “What will do the most good for the greatest number of people?” Having no concealed weapons would eliminate the danger factors associated with upwards of 90,000 people possibly carrying guns.

There is no way that 90,000 people, however well educated and informed, can be expected to react sensibly 100 percent of the time. Just one person reacting recklessly can kill, and that’s one person too many.