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Gun control draws the spotlight as MN House passes public safety bill

An $880 million budget bill includes gun control provisions opposed by the Republican minority.

ST PAUL, Minn. — Members of the Minnesota House passed an $880 million public safety budget bill, which includes two gun control measures Democrats have sought for many years.  The vote came shortly after midnight Tuesday morning.

The final tally was 69 to 63, with 69 Democrats voting in favor of the bill. One Iron Range Democrat joined 62 Republicans in opposition.

The package will pay for the court system, state prisons, BCA crime labs, civil legal aid, community violence prevention efforts and many other priorities under the public safety umbrella.

But what drew most of the attention, and most of the rhetoric from Republicans opposed to the bill, were the two gun control provisions -- universal background checks and extreme risk "red flag" protection orders.

The bill passed the Senate early Saturday morning after a 10-hour debate, so the House was the final stop on the way to the desk of Gov. Tim Walz, who has made gun violence reforms a major priority.

Monday's debate in the House was almost as lengthy, clocking in at more than nine hours.

"Our constituents do deserve public safety, and this bill provides public safety to every Minnesotan in every corner of this state," Rep. Kelly Moller, the Shoreview Democrat who heads the House Public Safety Committee, told her colleagues.

"This is a transformational and historic bill."

The DFL majority knew they had the votes to pass it going into Monday's debate. But that didn't stop the Republican minority from spending hours trying to talk Democrats out of the changes.

"This is a bad bill that coddles criminals and infringes on the rights of gun-abiding gun owners," House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, a Cold Spring Republican, asserted.

The bill would require private gun transactions are subjected to the same background checks that happen when someone buys a gun from a licensed firearm dealer. It would require those who want to sell a firearm to someone outside their immediate family to go to a gun dealer or local law enforcement to get a background check on the person.

The word "transfers" is used in the bill instead of "sales" because the background checks would also apply to lending a gun or giving one away to someone outside your family. Democrats say the idea is to make sure guns don't go to people who, under existing law, are barred from possessing or carrying a firearm.

Republicans have consistently opposed the idea, asserting that criminals and those intent on carrying out mass shootings, will find a way to get their hands on weapons by maneuvering around the rules or stealing them. They're upset that law-abiding firearms owners, under provisions of the bill, would be required to keep a record of the background check for 10 years for law enforcement to check as part of a criminal investigation.

Democrats contend the record-keeping requirement is a better option for gun owners than having the police or a state agency track who is selling guns to neighbors or strangers. It's often referred to as the "gun show loophole" because people who attend gun shows often sell or trade guns to other attendees.

The extreme risk protection orders bill would make it legal for family members or police to petition a judge for an order to temporarily remove firearms from a person who appears to be threat to themselves or others. Supporters assert it would prevent murders and suicides, which is the most common form of gun death in Minnesota.

Republicans and gun rights groups say those "red flags" bills only address the firearm instead of the person who is considered mentally unstable. During the floor debate Monday, Republicans pointed to mass killings done by people driving cars into crowds.

"It's the person, not the tool," Rep. Peggy Bennett, an Albert Lea Republican, told her colleagues. "So, let's go after the criminals instead."

Rep. Mary Franson, an Alexandria Republican, noted that many of her fellow lawmakers carry guns at the Capitol.

"But I've never seen a gun leave a holster all by itself and start shooting people."

One part of the red flags provision would allow emergency orders carried out without prior notice to the gun owner. The GOP contends that type of order will face a legal challenge because a firearm can be confiscated from a person before they have a chance to face their accusers in court. 

Protect Minnesota, an organization founded "to prevent gun violence through engagement, advocacy, and community-led solutions," released a statement lauding the gun control measures in the bill. 

“For families across Minnesota who have been affected by gun violence, this legislation is welcome and long overdue. More than 570 Minnesotans died by a gun in 2021 and this action by the legislature shows we can do more than simply hoping things get better. Enacting universal background checks, extreme risk protection order legislation, and increased funding for community violence intervention programs are important steps that will help us achieve a much larger goal: ending the gun violence crisis in our state and country."

 

The legislation also creates a pathway for some prisons to move from prison to supervised release earlier than they normally would, in exchange for completing education and job training goals.  Their sentences would be just as long, but instead of serving one-third of their time in the community they'd spend half of their sentence there.

The bill has several provisions that have had bipartisan support and, in some cases, originated as Republican ideas.

One creates the new crime of carjacking that treats it as more serious crime than simple car theft and armed robbery, which is a response to a virtual epidemic of carjackings in a wave of lawlessness that struck the Twin Cities metro during the pandemic.

The bill also creates a new crime of organized retail theft, to address those mass smash-and-grab events at stores that are planned and supported by criminal syndicates. It would also cover mass retail fraud done with stolen credit cards or actual credit lines from stolen identities.

No-knock search warrants would be restricted to those situations where an innocent person's life is at risk. The legislation essentially codifies what has become standard practice around no-knock search warrants in Minneapolis and St. Paul since the police killing of Amir Locke last year.

Rep. Maria Isa Perez-Vega talked about knowing the Locke family before Amir Locke was shot by MPD officers after waking him from a slumber on a couch in his cousin's apartment. 

"He was a responsible, legal gun owner but that didn't protect him from this poison."

Republicans objected to a part of the bill that allows the Minnesota Department of Human Rights to collect information about hate incidents. The latest version of the legislation spells out that the staff would use that information to produce a report every two years on hate crime trends on the state.

The GOP contingent said they worry the state will classify political speech as a hate incident and keep records of Republicans who say things Democrats find politically objectionable. 

Supporters say the point of that provision is allow people to report hate incidents that don't rise to the level of crimes but still cause harm and terror for persons of color and LGBTQ+ persons. It also will be a vehicle for people who don't feel comfortable speaking to police to find a way to convey information.

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