Report: As gun violence declines in the U.S., Minnesota heading in the opposite direction

HOST: Our top story on Minnesota Now. A new report is out today that looks at gun violence in Minnesota. The analysis by Protect Minnesota found 564 Minnesotans lost their lives to gun violence in 2024. That's slightly up from 530 people in 2023. In a note to our listeners, this conversation will mention suicide. Joining us now to help us dig deeper into this report is Maggiy Emery, the executive director of Protect Minnesota. Welcome.

MAGGIY EMERY: Good afternoon. Thank you so much for having me.

HOST: So what are the key findings from this report?

MAGGIY EMERY: So there are a couple of key things that stand out. One of the most important things to highlight is just the fact that gun violence in Minnesota was up overall 6% last year. This is a remarkable finding because nationwide, gun deaths are down. So we are an outlier in Minnesota in the fact that our gun deaths are trending up.

The other big thing from this report I want to highlight is that 72% of those deaths were firearm suicides. So we're really talking about a great big problem of firearm suicide in our state when we talk about gun violence, and we have to make sure that's included in the conversation.

HOST: So when you say the rest of the nation is down, we're up, is that random? I mean, some data fluctuates year by year. Or is there a trend there that needs to be emphasized?

MAGGIY EMERY: I would say that there is a small trend here that should be emphasized. So just like the rest of the country, in 2020 and 2021, we saw a big giant spike in gun deaths. We saw gun deaths climb through the roof.

Around the rest of the country, those deaths have come down really by double digits. Other places have seen a really big change and dropping of gun deaths. But here in Minnesota, we've only seen small decreases. So in 2022, we saw a 6% decrease, which was smaller than the rest of the country. And then again in 2024, we saw the spike in gun deaths.

So unfortunately, we are not declining in gun deaths as fast as the rest of the country, and we're actually rising in gun deaths in opposition to the rest of the country. So I would say there is a trend here that we need to pay very close attention to year over year when our gun deaths fall. Why are they doing it at a slower pace than around the rest of the country? And when our gun deaths rise while they're falling all over the rest of the United States, what is it that's unique in Minnesota that's making that rise happen?

MAGGIY EMERY: And the other thing, when I was looking at the report, I noticed the disparities in gun violence. And what do you find when it comes to disparities in gun violence?

MAGGIY EMERY: Yeah. So there's a couple really key things to pull out here. So when we're having this conversation about firearm suicide, we really need to highlight that that is happening largely in folks over the age of 45. So in 2024, 61% of those firearms suicides were in those over the age of 45.

So we can sometimes think of gun violence and suicidality as an impulsive activity in young people. But unfortunately, the data shows that this is a problem that's largely affecting older Minnesotans. The other thing that I'll pull out on the suicide data is that 90% of those who died by firearm suicide in Minnesota were White, which is not reflective of our overall population. So we're seeing a really high trend in older White Minnesotans of firearm suicide.

The other thing that I just want to point out here is that in the homicide numbers, so in 2024, 148 of our gun deaths, that's 26%, were homicides. And of those, 80% were under 45. So really, most people who died by firearm homicide were young people, and 54% of them were Black, which is a really remarkable statistic because in the state of Minnesota, Black people represent less than, I believe, it's 10% of the population. So they represent an extremely disproportionate amount of the folks who are dying by gun homicide in our state.

HOST: The other thing I was thinking about, if you look back over this past year, I mean, we've just seen a lot of violence in the workplace or toward public-facing people. The UnitedHealthcare CEO, the lawmaker shootings yesterday in Manhattan, shooting at an office building in downtown Manhattan. So do you think businesses need more violence protection resources, to start taking bigger steps toward violence protection?

MAGGIY EMERY: Yeah. Absolutely. In the state of Minnesota, we do allow businesses to regulate guns within their property. So you've probably seen, you've probably been in business buildings that say no guns on property. But there are a lot more ways, there are a lot more things that we could do to increase safety in businesses and in our neighborhoods.

For example, in the state of Minnesota, municipalities are not legally able to regulate guns within their buildings. So a public library, or a city hall, or even a voting location isn't currently able to say in the state of Minnesota, no guns on property. They're not legally allowed to regulate that if you're a legal permitted carrier.

So I think there are laws that we could certainly change. There are ways that we can shore up businesses, localities, municipalities to be able to more strictly regulate whether folks can come armed into places where people are working, into places where public servants get their job done every day.

As we see these increased number of attacks on public officials and those in the limelight, it really is a time for us to think about what can we do to make sure that people who don't have good intentions are able to get their hands on guns and bring them to a place where people are trying to do their work.

HOST: So in the short time left to us, I want to focus on Minnesota's red flag law. It went into effect in 2024. And this is a law that aims to remove guns quickly from someone who might pose a risk to themselves or others. But we saw more gun deaths in 2024 compared to 2023. So is the red flag law effective?

MAGGIY EMERY: So in 2024, which is the first year of its implementation, we saw about 140 extreme risk protection order petitions filed in the state of Minnesota. We know from data in other states that anywhere from 14-- for every 14 to 20 extremist protection order petitions filed, one life is saved.

So if you extrapolate that data, that's easily 10 people, 10 lives who were saved from gun violence, from firearm suicide. So this is working right now in the small scale. What we also is that people don't about it. In the state of Minnesota, both law enforcement and family members are able to file that red flag or that extremist protection order petition to ask the courts to remove firearms from someone who has demonstrated that they are a risk to themselves or others.

But if family members don't that this tool is available to them, they're not going to use it. So we need to lean way more into education. We need to make sure that everybody in Minnesota understands this tool is available to them. Because we know it works on the small scale, and what we need right now is for people to understand, hey, if your dad, or uncle, or somebody in your life that you really care about, your brother or sister, is displaying those signs of being at risk from their firearms, you have a tool available to you that's not a punishment. It's there to make sure that somebody you love is able to work through that crisis and come out safe on the other side without access to those lethal means.

HOST: So last question. Let's say we raise the awareness of the red flag law. But you know, people are going to be hesitant to file this order on a family member or someone that they're close to, that they know. How do you get over that hurdle?

MAGGIY EMERY: Yeah. I totally understand the hesitation. It feels awkward and uncomfortable to go to a judge and say, hey, I think somebody I love is at risk to themselves or others, and there is stigma around that. There is stigma around saying that somebody I is not OK or even that I'm not OK.

But the most important thing is that we save a life. So if it comes down to an option of making that uncomfortable decision or saving the life of somebody that you love, I would just really encourage folks save the life of the person that you love. We know that firearm suicide is happening at an increasing rate. It's not paranoid for you to see these signs and for you to reach out for help.

There is a likelihood that we all someone who's going to die by gun violence, by firearm suicide in our lifetime because of the frequency with which this occurs. So when those signs pop up, take them seriously. Take saving the life of your loved one seriously.

Filing an ERPO appeal petition in the state is very easy. You can go online on Google and find it, or you can go on Protect Minnesota's website and find it. It's about two pages. It's not a lot of work, and it is a way to save the life of someone that you love.

HOST: An ERPO is the red flag law.

MAGGIY EMERY: Yes, thank you. And Extremist Protection Order shortened to ERPO. Thanks for clarifying that.

HOST: Well, thank you very much.

MAGGIY EMERY: Absolutely. Thank you so much for your time.

HOST: That was Maggiy Emery, executive director of Protect Minnesota. If you or someone you know is struggling, please know trained help is available. Call or text 988 to get connected with a counselor.