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Gov. Tim Walz appeared Wednesday to walk back prior commitments to call a special legislative session on gun restrictions with or without a deal among legislative leaders.

The second-term DFLer said he needs to reach an agreement with leaders to avoid “a waste of money and a waste of time” calling back lawmakers in the narrowly split Legislature. 

Responding to ramped-up pressure on him by groups seeking new gun restrictions, Walz said a session wouldn’t be worthwhile if the House and Senate won’t commit to vote on proposals to restrict assault-style weapons and high capacity magazines.

In the weeks following the mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and School, Walz has pressed for the bans to reduce instances of gun violence in Minnesota. But Republican legislative leaders have said the focus should be on mental health resources and tighter security for schools rather than guns.

“I need to get an agreement on this. I need to have it. If we're going to hold the special session on safety of our children and safety of our streets and safety on gun violence, we need to talk about guns,” Walz said at news conference where he got immunizations for COVID-19 and the flu. 

“And if the folks who hold veto power over this, which they do because of the makeup of the Legislature, if they say that's not going to happen, calling a special session is going to be a waste of money and a waste of time if they're not willing to participate,” he continued.

It’s a softer stance than a month ago. Emerging from a meeting with legislative leaders on Sept. 9, Walz 

 even if a deal didn’t materialize ahead of time.

“I will call the special session one way or another,” Walz said then. He added that he wanted it “sooner rather than later” to avoid the recent bouts of gun violence from fading from mind. “I feel the sense of urgency. I think Minnesotans feel the sense of urgency.”

Given the current composition of the Legislature — it’s so tight that neither party can pass a bill on its own — proposals would need bipartisan support in both chambers to advance.

Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth said she is open to a special session even without a deal.

“I’ve told the governor all along that if he calls a special session, Republicans will show up,” Demuth said in a written statement Wednesday. “What we will not do is agree to pass a gun bill that hasn’t been written and so far has no level of detail we can even discuss.”

Hundreds of faith leaders from around the state delivered a letter to the governor on Wednesday urging him to call a special session. Dozens of them held a prayer service on the Capitol steps and said they’d continue putting pressure on every day for a week, or longer if necessary.

Pastor Ingrid Rasmussen, of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, said members of her congregation were affected by the shootings at Annunciation and near Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in late August. She said it’s incumbent on lawmakers to vote to ban assault-style weapons. 

“Some of our peers have done the really difficult work of burying children and adults who have died from gun violence, and so we're here to say, ‘No one stands alone in this work,’ and we understand that it's going to take all of us in whatever sector we find ourselves living in, to make this change,” Rasmussen said.

Rasmussen said faith leaders from around the state would have the backs of lawmakers who vote for the measures as they face potential political implications. She and dozens of her peers prayed that lawmakers would have the courage to vote on the bills. 

Walz said that feedback from members of the clergy and the public would be needed to move the needle in negotiations.

“I'm going to continue to push them. I'm going to continue to ask, this would all be fixed. Let's just go to the floor. Let's have the vote,” Walz said. “The public, 700 (members of the) clergy are telling us to have a vote on this.”

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Dana Ferguson

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The statement Wednesday seemed to walk back prior comments the DFLer made about bringing lawmakers back to St. Paul with or without an agreement on a special session.

Dana Ferguson | MPR News

A large group of faith leaders gather at the state Capitol.

In reversal, Walz says he needs deal with top lawmakers to call special session on guns

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