Gov. Tim Walz says Legislature should reconsider guns at Capitol complex in wake of lawmaker shootings
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Thursday the Legislature should reconsider allowing people to carry firearms inside the State Capitol in wake of the shootings of two lawmakers and their spouses inside their homes over the weekend.
State law allows handguns at the Capitol so long as someone has a permit to carry. But any state court can limit firearms within its own buildings, and that includes the Minnesota Judicial Center, where the Minnesota Supreme Court has proceedings on the Capitol complex.
"I think there's going to be a conversation, and this will be a broader one, in the Legislature and with us of what we can do to provide that kind of security," Walz told reporters Thursday. "I think the conversation will come up at the Capitol. I made no bones about it that I think it's inappropriate that we carry firearms in the Capitol, and I think we have to reassess that."
The shooting of DFL Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, and the killing of DFL Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, which officials described as a politically motivated assassination, has upended lawmakers' sense of safety. Authorities said the accused killer had a hit list that included the names of 45 state and federal elected officials who are Democrats.
Walz's comments came after there was a "threat of violence" to the Capitol building on Wednesday, according to a statement Thursday from the House Republican Caucus spokeswoman.
GOP Rep. Jim Nash notified law enforcement and the House Sergeant at Arms of a text message a constituent received that was "threatening in nature," according to the news release. The person who allegedly sent it was arrested and is in the Carver County Jail.
"The threat was not aimed at any particular lawmaker but the message did include a threat of violence at the Capitol," the statement said.
Prohibiting guns at the State Capitol would require the Legislature's approval, which is unlikely in the tied House and DFL-led Senate. Rob Doar, senior vice president of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, in a social media post said that doing so won't prevent bad actors from committing violence.
"It only disarms the very people with the strongest incentive to protect life: themselves and their colleagues," he wrote. "Security theater isn't security. Constitutional rights don't vanish at the Capitol steps."
The tragedy has renewed a debate about security at the Capitol complex more broadly. Right now, there is no single point of entry or security screening to enter the Capitol building, and some believe that should change.
Others are adamant the building should remain as accessible to the public as possible.
The Advisory Committee on Capitol Area Security in its recent report said there has been $19 million allocated for security upgrades at the complex over the last five years. Part of their mission statement is that the "Capitol, Minnesota Senate, and State Office Buildings must remain open in both reality and perception."
