Proposed gun violence prevention office gets hearing, no action

The Department of Health has cause of death data on tobacco use, motor vehicle crashes and substance use disorder – but not on gun deaths.

This is why research and data are at the core of HF3668. Sponsored by Rep. Robert Bierman (DFL-Apple Valley), it aims to address long-lacking research on gun violence and prevention.

Laid over by the House Health Finance and Policy Committee Monday, the bill would create an office of gun violence prevention that would work to research and reduce gun violence and gun-related deaths, create public health campaigns and serve as a resource to the Legislature.

Since 2020, guns have remained the leading cause of death for children and adolescence in the United States, Bierman said. “If this was any other leading cause of death we would respond with urgency. We would study it, we would fund it, we would coordinate a serious, sustained response.”

An outpouring of testimony in favor of the bill came from parents and community members impacted by the August mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School that killed two students and left 28 people injured.

“I want my 8-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter to grow up knowing their safety matters, that their leaders take this seriously and action is possible,” said Kacie Sharpe, a parent of a student at Annunciation who was friends with one of the victims, Fletcher Merkel.

Minnesota lacks the data other states and jurisdictions have on gun deaths, said Protect Minnesota Executive Director Maggiy Emery. “It’s time for leadership grounded in evidence and not guesswork,” she said.

Gun rights advocates say the bill could violate Second Amendment rights.

Bryan Strawser, chair of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, wrote, “Minnesota does not need another layer of government bureaucracy focused on reframing and restricting a constitutional right.”

Meanwhile, some Republicans took issue with the bill’s lack of funding. The section on an appropriation for the bill was left blank, Rep. Scott Van Binsbergen (R-Montevideo) noted.

Bierman said appropriations and details on office staffing would be fleshed out in a coming amendment.