Posted on 09/02/2025 8:19:33 AM PDT by DFG
Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday said he will call a special session for Minnesota lawmakers to vote on a package of gun control measures, although passage seems unlikely in a closely divided Legislature.
Walz, after welcoming Deerwood Elementary School students to their first day of school in Eagan, said Minnesota needs to take action following a mass shooting at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis that killed 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski and wounded 21 others last week.
“If Minnesota lets this moment slide and we determine that it’s okay for little ones to not be safe in a school environment or a church environment, then shame on us,” Walz said. “I’m going to call (lawmakers) back.”
The governor said he will release a gun control package this week that will include an assault weapons ban.
Walz said he plans to call a special session even if he gets zero commitments from Republicans to vote for his gun control measures.
Republicans — led by Speaker Lisa Demuth and who are strongly aligned with the gun rights movement — have 67 members in the House, while Democrats have 66 in their ranks following the June assassination of Democratic-Farmer-Labor caucus leader Melissa Hortman.
Walz and DFL lawmakers are hoping the shooting of a church filled with schoolchildren would pressure Republicans to accede to new laws. A special election to replace Hortman in safely blue District 34B is Sept. 16.
The special session will force Republicans to vote on gun control a little more than a year from a crucial midterm election when all 201 legislative seats will be on the ballot.
“When (Republicans) talk to the parents of these children and they hear the public speaking out, they get to make a decision. Are they going to stand in the way of having an honest debate? Now, we might not get it done in there, but the idea that you would not even come back and make a debate, I think, is untenable,” the governor said.
A majority of Minnesotans supported banning assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines in a MinnPost poll from 2022.
Democrats had full control of the Legislature in 2023 and 2024, but they failed to pass a statewide ban on assault weapons. They did pass a slate of other gun control measures, however. They instituted an extreme risk protection order, or “red flag,” law that allows family members or police to ask judges to take guns from people deemed a danger to themselves or others and passed universal background check requirements.
Although a special legislative session would force Republicans to take potentially difficult votes on gun regulation, it would also give them an opportunity to propose legislation of their own. Although only the governor can call the Legislature into special session, only lawmakers have the power to adjourn.
Republicans are already signaling they will make a special session about culture war issues given the Annunciation Church shooter’s apparent trans identity.
Rep. Drew Roach, R-Farmington, said in a press release that he will propose a bill repealing a ban on conversion therapy if lawmakers are called into a special session. The law, passed in 2023, prohibits mental health professionals from providing therapy that seeks to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, dismissed the idea of a special election in a statement last week.
“Republicans are committed to addressing the root causes of violence, supporting safe schools and increasing access to mental health resources. Calling for a special session without even consulting legislative leaders is not a serious way to begin. This is a partisan stunt from a governor who continues to engage in destructive political rhetoric,” Johnson said.
Walz cautioned Republicans to keep a special session focused on gun control.
“If we call a special session, and (Republicans) decide to deflect this to something else, my guess is that that Minnesotans are not going to be too happy about that,” Walz said.
The governor on Tuesday said he’s open to proposing more resources for mental health in his gun control package, but guns are the culprit in mass shootings.
“I am not going to allow anyone to try and make the case that the United States is unique in either mental health issues or other things,” Walz said. “The thing that makes America unique in terms of shootings is we just have more guns and the wrong types of guns that are on the streets.”
Walz didn’t provide a timeline for when he plans to call lawmakers back to session, but he will likely wait at least until the House returns to a tie after the Sept. 16 special election.
Yeah, gun control law 42,648 will do the trick.
That is true but what dims try to do is change the definition of what an assault weapon is.
If they really want to solve the problem they should ban assault trans in stead of manufacturing them.
Have an armed security person with a metal detector at the entrance to check back packs and clothing for knives, guns, etc.
After school starts, close and lock the doors, preventing entrance but not exit.
Use video cameras to verify proof of entrance after doors are locked.
Use bullet proof glass on the doors.
Any teachers that do not recognize a student in the class notifies the security person and the principal.
I for one am interested in just what the definition of an ‘Assault Weapon’ is. Seems to me anything I can assault another person with is an ‘assault weapon’.
More grandstanding. Hey, Walz, ya old pervert, how about keeping dangerous criminal locked up? Ya sick evil b@st@rd.
How about just make it illegal for trannies to own guns?
Given their track record.
He’ll probably issue a statement like “We stand with our trans allies after the horrific death of one of their own at the hands of an anti-trans gunman”
My firearms have killed 100% fewer people, than Ted Kennedy’s Oldsmobile.
It’s time for common sense Oldsmobile control.
Oh, and Timmy....Molon Labe.
Communist China is telling Walz what to do.
Tim Walz is a traitor. He likely gave the communist Chinese a manual to copy for a howitzer that could fire a nuclear weapon when he was in the National Guard. It disappeared back in the 1990’s when he was on a trip to China (one of many) and showed up when he got back. Only 2 people had access at the time and he was 1 of them.
If Minnesota lets this moment slide and we determine that it’s okay for little ones to not be safe in a school environment or a church environment, then shame on us,”
——
What a wanker. Shame on You, for elevating trannies and mental cases, creating hate against children praying in Church.
You blame an inanimate object. Do forks make people fat?
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