Minnesota Capitol security committee examines other states' measures
A panel tasked with oversight of security at the Minnesota State Capitol heard from experts on Monday about measures implemented in other states as lawmakers weigh changes here to further enhance safety.
The meeting of the Advisory Committee on Capitol Security was the second since the deadly attacks on Minnesota lawmakers and the first since yet another act of political violence, the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Among the ideas in focus for the Minnesota panel, which includes a bipartisan slate of lawmakers, DFL Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and state Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson, are limiting firearms at the Capitol and installing metal detectors.
Individuals are allowed to bring guns to the Capitol building if they have a permit to carry, though the Minnesota Judicial Center, which is part of the Capitol complex, does not allow firearms.
Two officials with the National Conference of State Legislatures testified about the results of their survey about security in other state capitols; 41 states responded to their requests.
Emily Ronco, policy specialist at the NCSL, said 27 states prohibit firearms at their capitol, while six have no such bans and nine have unique rules that allow firearms under some circumstances. There are also exceptions to the prohibition in some states for members of law enforcement or those who have concealed carry permits.
"There is a good deal of variation in how they approach it," Ronco said.
More than 30 states have metal detectors and require bag checks, the NCSL data found. In Minnesota, there are no security screenings before entry, though the Department of Public Safety recently announced that it limited the number of public entrances after a naked man was found in the Minnesota Senate chamber after hours.
"I thought it was fairly overwhelming that 33 capitols across the country have some type of screenings or metal detectors," said Flanagan, who chairs the committee. "I personally believe that that's compelling, but what the actual details look like here for Minnesota, we'll need to talk about that as an advisory committee."
Rep. Jim Nash, R-Waconia, who has been a part of the advisory panel for 11 years, urged caution before making any judgments so early in the process of studying this issue. He also wondered if the support is there to implement metal detectors, as the Legislature and Capitol security officials try to balance safety and public access to their government.
"With everything as it sits today, I don't think we have the votes to bring metal detectors and screenings in," Nash said. "There's a long way to go. This is the second meeting we've had relative to this area of specific conversation, and I think that we want to make sure that everybody is well informed before we go down the road of putting things together that we don't even know how it would work."
He also expressed concern about what that would mean for people with valid permits to carry with them when coming to the Capitol to testify to a committee or meet with their elected officials. Some states with policies prohibiting firearms, the NCSL noted, have lockers for individuals to store their guns. Others simply turn those people away.
"We need to find a way to accommodate that if that is a route that's going to be undertaken, and again, I don't think we're ready to do that right now," Nash said.
Colonel Christina Bogojevic, chief of the Minnesota State Patrol, told the panel that the third-party assessment of Capitol security has been underway for the past three weeks and that the group doing the analysis is setting up meetings with tenants of buildings on the property to get their thoughts on the matter.
The report is expected to be complete by the end of the year.
The State Patrol has also been interviewing candidates for 19 open Capitol security positions. Bogojevic said they will be sending out offers for those positions in "the next couple of weeks."
The committee, by law, is required to meet quarterly and is tasked with assessing safety issues and proposing recommendations to the Minnesota Legislature and the governor to enact changes.
Its scope is limited to the 140-acre Capitol complex, which comprises 15 buildings and 25 parking facilities.
Even if the events did not happen on Capitol grounds, Nash and Flanagan said the tragedies of this year weigh on them and others at the Capitol, underscoring their work on evaluating Capitol security. Flanagan noted the death threats she's faced in recent weeks, too.
"It's frightening, but my absolute determination is to not shrink away in this moment, even though it might be tempting to do so, because this is a scary time, but it's to lean in harder," she said.
Both of them condemned political violence and said it is time to lower the temperature on how people speak to each other.
"I can come down here and I can articulate what I believe, and I can do so, and have done so without violence. We don't need this," Nash said. "We need leaders from both sides of the aisle, all areas of government — House, Senate, executive branch, judicial branch — we need to say it is time to take a breath. I don't want you advocating for my perspective violently."