Hello from the State Capitol,
It’s been one week since the horrific tragedy that took place at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis, and many are still coming to grips with what happened. 2 beautiful kids were killed at the hands of a mentally unstable, transgendered gunman, and many more were injured. In reviewing his manifesto, it’s clear this sick coward was conducting a hate crime against Christians in a soft-target area, and succeeded.
Almost immediately, Democrats began to politicize this tragedy, insisting the legislature ban all “assault weapons.” Governor Walz also chimed in, demanding the legislature take action.
What’s interesting is that just two short years ago, Minnesota had Democrat majorities in the House and Senate and another in the governor’s office to do whatever they wanted. In fact they passed numerous gun-related laws, including the approval of an extreme risk protection order law – also known as a red flag law – that restricts firearm access for a person if a family member or law enforcement believes the individual could use a gun to harm themselves or others.
Media reports found that the killer used to speak in code and voice his approval for Hitler when he was in 7th grade. He also noted this in his journal prior to carrying out this unspeakable act: “I feel like my mom would have seen it coming due to my rocky past with violent threats.”
So here we have someone who is clearly mentally unwell, and yet no one around him raised a “red flag” as he went out and purchased three weapons and used them? The Democrats assured us the red flag law would prevent this kind of gun violence, yet look what happened.
Two years ago they also had the opportunity to practice what they preached. Democrats introduced one bill that would ban large-capacity ammunition magazines and semiautomatic military-style assault weapons, and another to prohibit the sale or transfer of semiautomatic military-style assault weapons. Not only did the bills not pass on the House floor, the Democrats refused to even give their own bills a committee hearing to begin the debate! They could have approved either of these bills without any Republican support. Instead, they literally ignored them.
Yet Governor Walz says Republicans now need to take some difficult votes on gun laws? Tell me this isn’t a political stunt without saying this is a political stunt.
Everyone should remember that while a governor can call for a special session, he does not control the session agenda, and he cannot end the special session. Meanwhile, there is not a Republican or Democrat majority that can pass legislation on its own in either legislative body right now, meaning bipartisan cooperation will be mandatory for anything to be approved if a session is called.
In Illinois, where it has an assault weapons ban – called, ironically enough, the Protect Illinois Communities Act – 58 people were shot and 8 were killed due to gun violence in Chicago over Labor Day weekend alone. Gun violence is so bad there that President Trump is likely going to send in the National Guard to try and restore order.
Can we all agree that no sane person would ever commit these crimes? If the Illinois assault weapon law proves anything, its that if a crazy person wants to kill people and you take away one tool to do so, they will find another. Timothy McVeigh used a bomb and killed 167 people in a building in Oklahoma City. Do we care about addressing the true problem here – a mental illness crisis – or are we just trying to appease the leftists that want to ban guns?
Red flag laws didn’t work. “Gun-free zone” signs are as worthless as the paper they’re printed on. And banning certain weapons or magazines won’t work either.
If a special session is called, House Republicans did unveil a series of proposals this week that should be brought forward to increase safety in our schools and communities. Many are not controversial: expanding school safety funding to non-public schools; making School Resource Officers available to every school; boosting funding for mental health treatment beds; and mandating mandatory minimum prison sentences for repeat gun criminals and for straw purchasers who enable violent crime.
If the governor calls a special session, these items should be near the top of the agenda. But I fear the governor is just trying to score political points and is not truly interested in addressing what is the real cause of these horrific actions: untreated mental illness.
Talk to you soon,
Steve