Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) plans to call a special session in the Minnesota state legislature to toughen gun laws in the state following a school shooting in Minneapolis last week.
The governor said Tuesday he would call state lawmakers and work on a plan to reconvene over the next couple of days. Walz said he intends to propose a “very comprehensive” gun control bill.
“The sad reality of it is that what happened last week is preventable because so many nations around the world do it, and we cannot resign ourselves to believe that our little ones can’t be safe in what should be and always is the most safe environments they can possibly be in, so there’s more work to do there,” Walz said.
“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,” Walz said.
Walz said any considered proposals would not affect Second Amendment rights, but would be intended to protect students. He noted the plan could include updated safe storage standards, improvements to the state’s 2023 “red flag” law, and more funding for mental health.
The governor also said he is open to ideas from Republicans. It is expected that a special session later this month will restore the 67-67 tie in the House under a Republican speaker, and state Senate Democrats have just a one-vote majority.
“To be very candid, just in a very evenly divided [legislature], I’m going to need some Republicans to break with the orthodoxy and say that we need to do something on guns,” Walz said.
Walz first proposed calling a special legislative session last week. Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, a Republican, said in a statement that anything done in the special session “needs to have bipartisan support.”
The mayors of Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Bloomington, Minnesota, are additionally holding a news conference on Tuesday to call on the state legislature to change a 1985 law that bars cities from enacting their own gun restrictions.
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Two children died and 21 people were injured after a shooter fired through Annunciation Catholic Church during a school Mass. The shooter died by suicide after firing 116 rifle rounds.
Minnesota U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson said the shooter left behind videos and writings that “expressed hate towards almost every group imaginable” and had an admiration for mass shooters.