DFL lawmakers propose assault weapons, high-capacity magazines bans
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Minnesota lawmakers met on Monday to discuss efforts to combat gun violence in the wake of recent gun violence, including the mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School last month.
DFL proposes assault weapon ban
What we know:
Speaking at the meeting, Senator Zaynab Mohamed (DFL, Minneapolis), whose district covers the Annunciation Church and School campus, said she was proposing a bill that would include bans on:
- Military-style assault weapons
- High-capacity magazines
- 50-caliber or larger firearms
- Undetectable firearms that can be detected by metal detectors
The law would include exceptions for law enforcement and military members along with firearms dealers. The bill would require people who own these guns to register them. The guns can't be transferred, and if people want to get rid of the guns, they have to turn them over to the BCA.
Annunciation parents speak out at hearing
What they're saying:
Also at Monday's hearing, we heard from parents of Annunciation victims who urged lawmakers to take action.
"Our kids deserve to have their safety prioritized," said Malia Kimbrell. "And if you stand in the way of that, shame on you. If you think it's acceptable that kids' lives are sacrificed while semi-automatic rifles can continue to exist here, shame on you! There is a risk and benefit to every decision. Saving kids' lives is the ultimate benefit that outweighs any possible risk. I would do anything to save my child's life. Wouldn't you do the same for yours?"
"As a trauma therapist, I'm well aware of the research into the impacts of trauma on the lives of the individuals who suffered," said Carla Maldonado. "We are now living that. But you don't need data. You don't need research. What you need to do is to look into the eyes of my 7-year-old at night, and she looks at me and tells me she can't go to sleep because she's afraid there's a shooter in the house. This is our family's new reality. And this is a reality that so many of the families in our Annunciation community are suffering."
Gun rights advocates press for mental health action
The other side:
Rob Doar with the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus spoke against the proposed bans, saying more comprehensive reform was needed.
Doar pointed out the deadliest attacks on schools in United States history involved a bomb and two handguns. He also highlighted a Department of Justice study that found no hard link between the 1994 national ban on assault weapons and a decrease in gun violence.
He pushed lawmakers to search for ways to improve help for people facing mental health crises.
"In Minnesota, there is a rule that within 48 hours of somebody being civilly committed who's incarcerated, they have to be transferred to, a civil commitment bed," Doar explained. "There are people in jail that have been there for weeks, months and sometimes even over a year, sitting in jail because there's no bed available to them. There are lots of opportunities for us to look at community-based resources."
"We have prepared, in the packet – and I would encourage members to look at that – several ideas of ways that we can help identify somebody who's in an impending crisis and intervene early," Doar added. "80% of people who engage in mass shooting attacks are in an identifiable mental crisis, and over half of them leak information about their plans before they do that. That is going to intercept those people before they engage in whatever heinous act that they want."
During the hearing, lawmakers reviewed a number of proposals, including several that deal with tackling mental health issues.