Republicans on Thursday unveiled their priorities should Gov. Tim Walz call lawmakers into a special session.

Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, told WCCO she shares in the collective horror at the deadly shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and she recognizes the need for action.

"What we are looking for is bipartisan solutions that will make a difference, will keep kids and Minnesotans safer, and those are the things we want to work on," she said. "We have to have continued conversations and exploring the root causes of why things happen. Not just doing a knee-jerk reaction."

Demuth and House GOP Leader Harry Niska, R-Ramsey, jointly released a list of key areas the caucus will pursue in a special session, including:

• Making non-public schools eligible for school security funding
• Expanding school security grants
• Boost funding for school resource officers
• Repeal or amend laws on gender-affirming care
• Support mental health units at hospitals and health systems
• Enact mandatory prison sentences for some gun crimes

"We are short mental health beds here in the state and we need to continue to provide services to school-aged kids and on the books, we already have red flag laws," Demuth added. "We need to make sure we are enforcing the laws that are already on the books."

Walz confirmed that he is talking to legislators about a potential special session to address gun violence. It would bring lawmakers back to the Capitol earlier than the start of the regular session in February. 

Several mayors from the metro also joined calls for stricter gun laws.

Walz had said he planned to put out a proposal that is "very comprehensive, it's been done in other places, it's been done without infringements on people's Second Amendment rights, but it has proven that it will help protect our students." 

The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus blasted the notion of different gun laws in different communities, saying "someone carrying legally under a state permit could unknowingly violate a patchwork of local ordinances just driving to work. It's unreasonable to expect every citizen to study the local codes of every town."