Dozens rally at the state capitol urging lawmakers to pass stricter gun safety laws
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Dozens of Minnesotans took to the state capitol on Thursday demanding lawmakers pass tougher gun laws to make their communities safer, as the legislature considers measures that would expand background checks and raise the age limit to buy military-style weapons.
Moms Demand Action in Minnesota held its annual day of action in St. Paul, sharing stories of how lives have been profoundly impacted by gun violence. It comes just days after yet another mass shooting, this time at Michigan State University where three are dead and five others are critically wounded.
Gun safety advocates are pushing for criminal background checks for all gun sales and transfers; safe storage laws; and a so-called "red flag" law, which are extreme risk protection orders that would allow a family member or law enforcement to petition a judge to temporarily ban a person from having a gun if deemed a risk to themselves or others.
These three measures advanced out of a House committee earlier this month and they are law in other states. Another proposal that was approved by the same panel would require gun owners to report a lost or stolen firearm within two days.
"That will save lives in Minnesota because that is what we're here for," said Molly Leutz, chapter president of Moms Demand Action in Minnesota. "We have for years absorbed bad faith arguments of a slippery slope. People telling us criminals won't obey laws anyway—literally an argument against laws at all. And we have heard that it just doesn't matter. But that's not the side I'm on and it's not the side any of you are on it does matter. And it matters to the majority of Minnesotans."
Supporters of tougher gun laws have been pushing for these laws for years. They say it's past time that state leaders act as gun deaths plague communities in Minnesota and across the country.
A MinnPost poll after the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, last Spring year found 64% of Minnesotans were in favor of implementing a red flag law and 69% raising the age to legally purchase a weapon to 21.
Some of the proposals have passed a DFL-led House in recent years but faced resistance in the Senate, where Republicans held power. The makeup of the legislature is different now, though, with Democrats controlling both chambers and the governor's office, so supporters hope there is an avenue for passage this session.
"So we stand here today in front of this legislative majority who we expect to represent the majority of Minnesota some action on gun violence," Leutz said.
Even with Democrats in the majority, there will be firm opposition and pushback from gun rights supporters and Republicans. Rob Doar, senior vice president of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, raised particular concern about the "red flag" law proposal, arguing that it deprives an individual of due process with its "ex parte" provision.
"The whole idea that we can get a secret court order to deprive somebody their property just based on an accusation is very problematic for us," Doar said in an interview on Thursday.
He also believes expanded background checks to cover all gun transfers—including those among friends and family—would create bureaucratic hurdles.
No gun-related legislation has gotten a hearing in the Senate yet. But Sens. John Marty, DFL-Roseville and Liz Boldon, DFL-Rochester, introduced a bill that includes safe storage provisions, creates a system for gun licensing and raises the age to buy semi-automatic weapons to 21.
The Senate legislation also requires records for gun transfers, so when a person loans or gives a gun as a gift.
A study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that there was a 28% in gun homicides in Connecticut after it passed a gun licensing law.
"I think there's so much room for common ground if we can get off of the premise that adding hurdles to law abiding gun owners is going to be the resolution," Doar said.
