With House Passage of Gun Violence Prevention Initiatives, Minnesota Gun Owners for Safety Demand the Senate Stop Stalling and Advance the Life-Saving Measures
State House approves two gun safety measures, expanded background checks and an extreme risk protection order, backed by recently launched Minnesota Gun Owners for Safety
Minnesota Gun Owners for Safety urge state Senate to approve the legislation backed by both the House and Governor
April 30, 2019 — With the Minnesota House approving legislation to strengthen the state’s gun laws, Minnesota Gun Owners for Safety are putting pressure on the state Senate to advance the gun safety measures. While the majority of the House and Governor Tim Walz support lifesaving legislation to expand criminal background checks and establish a process to obtain an extreme risk protection order, the state Senate has so far refused to consider the gun safety provisions that passed this week as part of a larger public safety bill.
“As a veteran of the Armed Forces and a survivor of gun violence, I am encouraged that the House of Representatives did the right and moral thing in passing these two major gun safety measures,” said Bob Mokos of Minnesota Gun Owners for Safety. “Now we must demand that the Senate follows suit and recognizes that most Minnesotans, including gun owners, support this legislation.
Gun violence costs Minnesota more than $2.2 billion per year. Increasingly, gun owners themselves are calling proposals to pass stronger laws necessary. To push for commonsense policies a coalition of gun owners in the state recently came together to form Minnesota Gun Owners for Safety.
In a StarTribune editorial published last week , the editorial board applauded the formation of the gun owners coalition stating that the voices of gun owners “need to be heard at the State Capitol, and right now” while also urging Minnesotans to contact their lawmakers to support the gun violence prevention package.
“Today we have great news for all law-abiding gun owners,” said Gary M. Berg of Minnesota Gun Owners for Safety. “The Minnesota House passed several measures that will help prevent firearms from falling into the hands of those individuals who are dangerous to themselves or others, or are legally prevented from possessing guns.”
At a roundtable last month to launch the new group, members discussed their mission, priorities, and the policies they will advocate to pass at the state and federal level. Earlier this year the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that in 2017 the number of people dying from gun violence rose for the third year in a row, reaching the highest level in nearly 40 years. 39,773 Americans died in 2017 from gun violence, meaning that nearly 109 people were killed by firearms each day.
The expanded background checks and extreme risk protection order were part of the House’s public safety bill. The extreme risk protection order is a measure that empowers law enforcement to prevent tragedies by temporarily removing guns from individuals at an elevated risk of endangering themselves or others. Requiring background checks on every gun sale or transfer will keep guns out of the hands of illegal buyers and gun traffickers, which dramatically increases the likelihood of gun murders and suicides.
In recent years, Minnesota has been hit hard by the gun violence epidemic.
- Minnesota faces 389 gun-related deaths per year, for an average of more than one death per day.
- 533 Minnesotans per year are injured in non-fatal shootings.
- Gun violence costs Minnesota $764 million per year—and that figure only includes the directly measurable losses associated with healthcare, law enforcement, employer costs, and lost employee income.
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