Key state Senate committee advances gun, school safety bills

More than a dozen bills intended to prevent gun violence in Minnesota are moving forward in the Minnesota Senate after a marathon committee hearing on Friday. 

The hearing was the latest debate on an issue that lawmakers are prioritizing this session in the wake of a fatal shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and School last August that left two children dead and 28 others injured — and the assassination of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband and the shooting of Sen. John Hoffman and his wife in June. 

The Senate Judiciary and Public Safety committee hearing stretched for over seven hours as lawmakers considered legislation and heard testimony from a range of stakeholders. 

Advocates for various bills included parents of Annunciation victims, medical professionals, law enforcement leaders, county attorneys and the mayors of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Several individuals and gun lobbyists spoke against legislation. 

“We are here today because of an immense tragedy, tragedy which parents and first responders have bravely shared today… and this legislation perpetuates the tragedy by providing neither deserved justice nor answers,” said Jonathan Hauptman, who testified against an assault weapons ban. 

Minneapolis police lieutenant Andrew Schroeder, the lead detective who worked on the Annunciation shooting, spoke in favor of the bill. 

“Mass shootings are in the news every day around the country, and we're, like, desensitized to it,” said Schroeder. “We have to do something, whether it's ban assault weapons or high-capacity magazines, that's for you guys to figure out. But we as police and families are continuing to see gun violence every day and it's not acceptable.” 

In addition to the in-person witnesses, committee chair Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, said the hearing drew over a thousand emails with public comment. 

The committee ultimately approved several bills, some with bipartisan backing and others advancing only on party lines. 

Those included measures that would: 

• Ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines 

• Reenact a ban on binary triggers 

• Allow city governments to prohibit or restrict weapons in local government-owned or leased buildings and land 

• Modify where firearms are allowed on school property 

• Fund violence prevention research 

• Fund violent crime prevention teams 

• Fund school safety specialists 

• Require storing firearms away from people prohibited from owning them 

• Require reporting of accidental firearm discharges by peace officers 

• Establish and fund an office of gun violence prevention at the Minnesota Department of Health 

• Establish and fund a school safety threat assessment pilot project, and 

• Create a grant program to help law enforcement investigate nonfatal shootings. 

Some of the proposals were considered in the Minnesota House in February. There, a ban on assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines stalled on party-line tie votes in committee.  

Legislation will need bipartisan support at the State Capitol to reach the governor's desk. 

• One of Minnesota's tightest statewide races takes center stage
• Politics Friday: Keith Ellison, Ron Schutz appear in their first attorney general race debate
• Keith Ellison, Ron Schutz debate for first time in Minnesota attorney general’s race
• In more than a dozen Minnesota House races, no GOP candidate is running