A prayer for assault weapons ban: Hundreds of clergy coming to capitol

Faith leaders urge MN Gov. Walz to call special session

Hundreds of faith leaders from across Minnesota are urging the governor to call a special session on gun control. FOX 9's Corin Hoggard has the latest report.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Minnesota clergy members by the hundreds are broadcasting a message to lawmakers, demanding a special session.

Gun violence prayers

Capitol clergy:

They’re coming to the steps of the capitol every day at noon for the next week for prayer vigils, and they went to the governor’s office Wednesday morning to deliver a written message signed by 750 clergy from all across the state, representing more than 60 of the state's 87 counties.

Clergy members covered the capitol steps Wednesday with a prayer for change.

"Blessed are we who recognize that we are struggling under the weight of the nothing that has happened but needs to," prayed Pastor Doug Mork of Holy Trinity Lutheran in Minneapolis.

750 MN clergy members call for special session on gun control

Clergy members from across Minnesota sent a letter to the governor demanding a special session to address gun control. FOX 9's Corin Hoggard has the latest from the Minnesota State Capitol.

The moral calling

Survivors invitation:

They say they come at the invitation of parents from Annunciation, parents whose kids were there when a mass shooter opened fire. A total of 30 people suffered injuries during the attack.

Harper Moyski and Fletcher Merkel were killed.

Their prayer is that lawmakers will pass a ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines, the kind that allowed the Annunciation shooter to fire 116 rounds in a short period of time.

They know this is a tough political ask, and they prayed for several lawmakers by name.

"For some, it will mean breaking party ranks," said Pastor Ingrid Rasmussen, also of Holy Trinity. "For others, it will mean risking political security for the sake of the most vulnerable."

MN clergy leaders launch prayer, action against guns [FULL]

Saying they?ve been collectively ?upset for a long time,? Minnesota?s clergy leaders gathered at the steps of the state Capitol on Wednesday to launch ?Seven Days of Prayer and Action? ? a weeklong series of prayer services that aims to call for an assault weapons ban and a ban on high-capacity magazines.

Voices for change?

Missing math:

A lot of the same voices have been speaking out for six weeks now and the political calculus doesn’t seem any different now than it did in the days immediately after Annunciation.

Gov. Tim Walz said their words were powerful, but he acknowledged that even getting to a vote on those bans is a long-shot now.

And he’s not sure calling a special session would be worthwhile.

"I could call it so that this would happen: They would come here and we would pay them and they would go through this stall technique and we never, ever see a vote on those things," he said.

What's next:

Clergy members say they don’t intend to let the memory of Annunciation fade away with time, so they’ll be out on the Capitol steps at noon every day for the next week.