Minnesota mayors call for politically difficult assault weapons ban
(FOX 9) - Nine Minnesota mayors representing almost 20% of the state's population are demanding a ban on assault weapons.
A call to action
Too easy to kill too many:
They see the Annunciation mass shooting as a call to action that can't be ignored.
But the change they’re asking for could be hard to get at the Capitol.
The mayors say it’s just too easy for someone to rattle off dozens or even hundreds of rounds of gunfire in a short amount of time.
And they say we have evidence from a 1994-2004 federal ban that an assault weapons ban reduces mass shootings.
Last Wednesday, 116 rounds of gunfire aimed at Annunciation Church came from an AR-style rifle in a short period of time, according to police search warrants.
"Weapons of war are in the hands of people who should never, ever have the opportunity to use them and our communities are paying the price," said Bloomington Mayor Tim Busse.
He's one of the nine mayors who have now officially joined the call for a special session to add new gun safety laws aimed specifically at stopping another similar incident.
Here's what they want:
- A new assault weapons ban
- A ban on high-capacity (more than 10 rounds) magazines
- Allow cities to create their own bans
Can they do it?
Counting votes:
Gov. Tim Walz seems ready to call an evenly split legislature to St. Paul.
"If Minnesota lets this moment slide and we determine that it's OK for little ones to not be safe in a school environment or a church environment, then shame on us," the governor said as he visited Eagan's Deerwood Elementary School on the first day of classes.
Walz also started talking to Republican legislative leadership Tuesday, but his hopes of finding GOP votes supporting gun control seem small.
Minnesota has a very evenly split legislature right now.
Democrats have a 33-32 edge in the Senate until November elections to replace Democrat Nicole Mitchell and Republican Bruce Anderson.
It takes 34 votes to pass a bill in the Senate.
And Republicans have a 67-66 advantage in the House until a special election later this month because of the assassination of Melissa Hortman.
So the governor would have to find some Republican votes to support gun control.
Speaker of the House Lisa Demuth said this is all overtly political, but if the governor calls a special session:
"I hope we can have a real conversation about all aspects of safety - including things like the school security funding that was denied by the DFL trifecta in 2023 and more funding for desperately needed mental health resources."
Letting each city implement its own assault weapons ban creates a complicated set of rules almost impossible to follow, according to Rep. Paul Novotny, (R-Elk River).
"State firearm preemption laws safeguard Minnesotans from a confusing patchwork of local rules that could turn law-abiding citizens into criminals simply for crossing a city or county line," he said.
Room to compromise?
Trying anything:
But Stillwater Mayor Ted Kozlowski said he has a great working relationship with Sen. Karin Housley, (R-Stillwater), and he hopes she can be a leader on her side of the aisle.
And the whole group of mayors says they want to try everything instead of doing nothing.
"This is as basic as it gets," said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. "This is math. And we can prevent these kinds of deaths in large numbers. Obviously, we need to work on mental health. Of course, we support prayer and thoughts, and we support action."