ST PAUL, Minn. — Capitol Democrats are pressing ahead with more gun control measures, a year after historic votes to expand background checks and create a red flag protection order system in Minnesota.
DFL lawmakers' agenda for the 2024 session focuses on keeping lost and stolen firearms from getting into the wrong hands.
Rep. Koahly Her, a St. Paul Democrat and gun owner, has authored a bill that would require gun owners to report a lost or stolen firearm within 48 hours of discovering its missing.
"We don't want to punish people. What we want to do is encourage people to be a part of a system that is responsible to this," Rep. Her told reporters at a State Capitol news conference Wednesday.
"So, if you report it and something happens and it's used in an incident, then you're not held responsible for that. We think that's really important."
Her said one goal of the bill is to take away a common deception used by straw purchasers, those who buy firearms on behalf of felons that are prohibited from owning or possessing guns.
"Without reporting laws, straw purchasers can simply claim the gun they bought and gave to a prohibited person was lost or taken in an unreported theft."
She pointed out stolen guns often land in the hands of those who can't legally buy them. They can also wind up being found by children, which can lead to the tragedies like the accidental shooting of Da'Qwan Morris-Jones of St. Paul.
"Da'Qwan was loved by so many of his peers. He was funny. He taught his teachers the latest dance moves. He stood up for kids who were being bullied," Monica Jones told reporters, as she relived the events that led to her son's death at the age of 17.
The Sibley High School football captain invited some friends over to play video games on November 6, 2019. One of the teens showed up with a gun he had found on the street and passed it around the room.
"The 15-year-old went to put the gun away inside the other boy’s backpack. Not knowing the gun was loaded, he aimed it and pulled the trigger, and it hit my son in the chest. Both boys did render aid to my son while waiting for EMTs, but my son did not make it. The owner of this gun has still not been held accountable."
Safe Storage bill
The more controversial piece of legislation is the Safe Storage Bill, which would require gun owners to lock up their firearms at home and store them separately from ammunition. Protect Minnesota, the advocacy group pressing for gun control, considers this a way to prevent accidental shootings and thefts of firearms from those who aren't qualified to own them.
"Less than 50 percent of Minnesotans who own guns are safely securing them all the time," Maggiy Emery of Protect Minnesota told reporters.
"So, for us this is really a tool to help all gun owners understand that it's your responsibility as someone practicing safe gun ownership to keep that gun safely stored at all times."
That idea drew sharp criticism from the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, which had worked against many gun control measures at the Capitol.
"The safe storage bill that's been introduced is saying you can't have a loaded firearm at home for self-defense," Rob Doar of the MN Gun Owners Caucus told reporters Wednesday.
"It has to be completely separate from the ammunition and rendered useless, which not only just defies the purpose of having a firearm for self-defense, it violates a Supreme Court precedent as well."
Doar said the group doesn't oppose the idea of reporting lost or stolen firearms but doesn't believe it will make a difference.
"Telling responsible gun owners that they have to do something they’re already doing isn’t going to change the landscape as far as stopping the people they're worried about getting guns from getting guns."
Medicaid funding for violence prevention
Democrats are also seeking permission to use federal Medicaid money to pay for violence prevention professionals in community settings. Seven states have already successfully petitioned the federal government to allow Medicaid money to be used this way, as part of an effort to save lives and the curb the extraordinary costs of treating gunshot injuries.
"Two-thirds of gunshot survivors are also on Medicaid or uninsured. Medicaid plays an integral role in treating the needs of people suffering from gun injuries," Rep. Cedrick Frazier, the chief author of House Bill 3834, told reporters.
"And we know from data if we can get the service out to folks it break the cycle of folks going back into the community to harm other folks, because we also know that hurt people hurt people and we're trying to break that cycle," Rep. Cedrick Frazier told reporters.
That money would go to pay for the type of work already being done at places like Hennepin County Medical Center.
"When folks are shot, stabbed or assaulted they come into our emergency department. We have a team that responds directly into our emergency room to see what’s happening with them, see what’s happening with their loved ones, to see how we can be helpful, so they don’t go back into the community to retaliate," Kentrel Galloway, who manages Hennepin Healthcare's Next Step program, told reporters.
"That’s why I’m really encouraging we pass this bill because we have folks out there doing lifesaving work, but they’re underfunded."
Kiwanis Vilella, who leads the Metro Youth Diversion Center, said community intervention efforts do make a difference in calming chaotic situations that arise from violence.
"My team is a team of 15 guys out there on a daily basis trying to save lives, and do it passionately," Vilella explained.
"They’re trained in de-escalation, they’re also trained in Narcan, and most importantly they’re trained with empathy and compassion."
Vilella said he too lost a child to gun violence, a 13-year-old son.
"I'm out there talking people into putting down guns, getting help with their mental or substance abuse problems or issues, because I understand that firsthand. I’ve got lived experience with that."