Saint Paul, MN. – Today, the Minnesota House of Representatives passed SF 2909, the Public Safety and Judiciary budget bill. Within the bill are two gun violence prevention measures long championed by Rep. Dave Pinto (DFL-St. Paul).
One provision, authored by Rep. Pinto since 2017, would require criminal background checks on all gun sales. The other provision, which was previously authored by Rep. Pinto, would establish extreme-risk protection (or "red flag") orders.
“For years, Minnesotans of all backgrounds have called on us to do more to keep guns out of the hands of people who have shown themselves to be dangerous," said Rep. Pinto. "I'm thrilled that we have passed these two bills through the House; the next step to finally making them law."
Both of these provisions are in use in other states around the country, under both Republican and Democratic governments. Statistics show these other states have lower rates of suicide and domestic violence homicide, among other results. Both provisions now advance with the full budget bill to a conference committee with the Minnesota Senate.
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