The first hearing of the Minnesota special legislative session called by Democrat Gov. Tim Walz in an attempt to ban millions of privately owned firearms and force several other infringements upon state gun owners revealed some of the measures that will likely be considered.
According to a report at grandforksherald.com, the September 15 meeting included not only lawmakers, but also parents of children that were hurt in the shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church, where a trans man fired into the windows of the church during the school’s first Mass of the year.
At the top of the wish list, of course, is banning so-called “assault weapons,” popular semi-auto firearms owned by millions of Americans who use them for sporting shooting, hunting, competition and other legal purposes. Of course, when a deranged criminal uses such rifles to kill children he has barricaded into a church, suddenly it’s the gun that is the culprit.
Interestingly, reports from law enforcement following the attack indicated that the perpetrator also used a shotgun and handgun, along with a rifle. It’s unclear whether Democrat lawmakers will call for a total ban on shotguns and handguns as a result.
Other Democrat proposals mentioned during the hearing include a re-enactment of the state’s binary trigger ban, which was struck down last month by a district court, a requirement for serial numbers on guns, safe storage requirements, gun safety training and the creation of a civil commitment division in the Attorney General’s Office. Incidentally, there have been no reports that the attacker at Annunciation Church used a binary trigger, a gun without a serial number or a gun that was stored unsafely.
One of the voices of reason at the hearing was Rob Doar, senior vice president of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, who said he’d like to see the special session focus on
“things that will actually make a difference.”
“Even if all of these bills became law, that are being proposed today, there’s no indication that that would have prevented this shooting,” Doar said.
In fact, he is correct. According to Minneapolis law enforcement officials, all three of the guns used in the attack were purchased legally. Additionally, the attacker had no record that would have precluded him from buying a firearm.
Ultimately, Minnesota Democrats, led by Gov. Walz, are using the attack on the school as an excuse to try to pass laws that they haven’t been able to move through the legislature in the past because more people are against such laws than favor them. Trading on tragedy is nothing new, and anti-gunners are the very best at it. Whether they manage to pass some of these proposals this time around will depend on whether Republicans in the legislature for what is right and whether enough Minnesota gun owners are interested enough in their freedom to let their lawmakers know how they feel.
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