SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Governor Tim Walz Monday signed a bill cracking down on straw purchasers, those who buy firearms on behalf of persons who are disqualified from possessing one.
The bill signing event took place at the Saint Paul Police Department, to emphasize the legislation is about protecting public safety officers as well as the public.
"This is a common sense law," St. Paul Police Assistant Chief Paul Ford told reporters.
"We're very lucky to have it. And the last thing I'd like to say is, if someone asks you to buy a gun for them, that should be a red flag. Your first question should be, 'Why?' and your answer should be, 'No.'"
The legislation, which goes on the books Jan. 1, 2025, will make it a felony to buy a gun for someone who is barred from owning one due to a felony conviction or some other court-imposed restriction. The bill would apply this ban to all firearms, not just pistols and assault-style rifles.
The same legislation also bans binary triggers, which are capable of firing a second bullet upon release of the trigger.
"They are unnecessary. They are dangerous. Banning them will make our communities safer," DFL Senator Heather Gustafson of Vadnais Heights told reporters.
"Our communities expect us to do something. They are tired of empty promises on gun safety issues. They want results. I’m proud this bill delivered."
The bill gained new momentum after the February killings of Burnsville Police Officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge and firefighter-paramedic Adam Finseth during a standoff in that Twin Cities suburb.
Authorities say Shannon Gooden killed them three using guns from straw purchases made by his girlfriend, who has since been charged with a federal offense. At least one of the guns Gooden used also had a binary trigger.
"It was a straw purchase gun by the perpetrator’s partner, and one of six straw purchase firearms that she bought him over a short span of time," Rep. Kaela Berg, the Burnsville Democrat who was the lead author of the bill in the House, told reporters.
"We cannot turn away when our courageous first responders turn towards danger."
Most straw purchase prosecutions have been done recently in the federal system because it's already a felony level offense in the US criminal code.
Mayor Melvin Carter cited the mass shooting at the Truck Park bar in 2021 that killed a 27-year-old woman and injured 11 others.
"And that heartbreak, that trauma, turned to real anger when we found out one of the guns used in that incident had been purchased by a straw purchaser," Carter remarked.
"That gun never should've been in our communities."
Eagan Police Chief Roger New noted it has been a tough time for the law enforcement community with so many people in uniform being targeted and killed, citing the Burnsville shootings and the more recent slaying of Minneapolis Officer Jamal Mitchell.
Chief New said those who remain are still committed to the job of protecting their fellow citizens.
"One thing that’s really astonished me after these tragic events is this; they keep lacing up their shoes, putting on their gun belt and their ballistic vests, and they keep doing the job," Chief New told reporters.
New heads the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association, which supported the bill.
Republican opposition
During debates at the Capitol, Republicans said they would've voted for the bill if it just covered straw purchases. But they all voted against it because of the binary trigger ban.
"Whatever law you make about an inanimate object, that's not going to change it. We need to change people's behavior. We need to change people's respect for life," Republican Rep. Paul Novotny, a retired police officer, told his colleagues in a May 2 floor debate.
GOP Rep. Harry Niska of Ramsey said gun owners who lose their firearms with illegal binary triggers will be making legal claims against the state to be compensated for the loss of property.
"The state of Minnesota is now going to tell all those people they can’t have that anymore, that item they purchased for their firearm is now illegal."
The GOP contingent also asserted new gun control measures wouldn't be needed if not for prosecutors and judges who sign off on plea bargains that negate the purpose of crackdowns passed by the legislature.
"We are letting criminals back out on the street that use firearms in the commission of a crime. That's the real problem. It isn't the guns," Sen. Jeff Howe of Rockville said during the May 9 Senate debate on the straw purchasers bill.
Gov. Walz pushed back against the idea that laws passed by the legislature have no impact on the level of violence committed using firearms.
"This idea that there's nothing we can do is nonsense!" Walz told reporters at the bill signing ceremony.
"This does not happen in other nations. There are things we can do."
Two other firearms bills fell by the wayside during the 2024 legislative session.
One would've required gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms within 48 hours of discovering they’re missing. Another would require guns to be locked and unloaded when not in direct possession of the licensed gun owner.
Sen. Grant Hauschild, a Hermantown Democrat, said he couldn’t support adding those regulations because responsible gun owners in Minnesota are already in compliance with the goals of those bills. All 34 DFL votes would’ve been required to pass those bills, because all 33 Republicans were opposed.