The much anticipated “assault weapons ban” was introduced yesterday in the Minnesota House Public Safety Policy and Finance Committee. The measure was defeated on a straight party line vote 10-10, which effectively prevents the House bill from moving forward in the legislative process.
The bill has been talked about since the mass shooting at Annunciation School in Minneapolis this past fall. Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) legislators were so eager to introduce it that they attempted a very disingenuous move last week when they attempted to introduce the bill as a “Delete Everything” amendment to an unrelated violent crime sentencing enhancement bill. Republican co-Chair Paul Novotny ruled the amendment “out of order.”
The DFL finally got its chance to introduce the bill yesterday, as they presided over the committee hearing and “held the gavel.” The first bills the DFL put forward, in unison, were HF-3433 (assault weapon ban) and HF-3402 (ban on large capacity magazines). There were four testifiers for and four against.
The bills represented a significant overreach and would have effectively banned all semi-automatic pistols that hold more than 10 rounds. The reality is that the bills would have impacted law abiding gun owners but would have had no impact on criminals or those intent on an attack.
Rob Doar, President of the Minnesota Gun Owners Law Center, testified in opposition of the bill and was both respectful of the experiences of victims while also pointing out the misguided notion that banning certain firearms would make them inaccessible to criminals.
The instinct to act is human. The duty to act wisely is legislative.
Rob Doar
Doar said that the provisions in the bill would be immediately challenged in court, noting that the Supreme Court had previously ruled against similar prohibitions. Referring to the Annunciation shooting, Doar pointed out the “uncomfortable truth” that the prohibitions in the bill would not have prevented the Annunciation attack – noting the shooter had brought several firearms not prohibited by the bill.
In the committee member comments session, Rep. Hudson noted that none of the anti-gun legislation passed during the 2023/2024 legislative session – including expanded background checks, red flag laws, expanding domestic violence related prohibitions, or the banning of binary triggers – prevented or slowed the Annunciation shooter from attacking.
Rep. Hudson and others reiterated the need to focus on “upstream” intercepts to prevent those prone to violence or those with obvious mental health issues from having the ability or freedom to carry out such an attack. Incapacitation of known threats is the only sure way to prevent such violence.
Rep. Duran noted that the bills would prohibit peace officers from carrying their service firearms while off-duty (most law enforcement service firearms exceed the 10-round limit) – a point the DFL author confirmed as an intent of the bill.
DFL co-Chair Moller called for a vote to move both bills forward to the Judiciary committee. The measures failed when all 10 Republican representatives voted “no.”
