ST. PAUL, Minn. – Two of the Democrats’ controversial anti-gun-violence initiatives, a “red flag” law, and closing the so-called “gun show loophole” on background checks, are likely headed for final votes at the Minnesota Legislature after House and Senate negotiators included them in a major public safety budget bill.
Saint Louis Park Senator Ron Latz said neither measure bans firearms. He said they focus on people ineligible to possess firearms and shouldn’t have them, or people in crisis who are a threat to their own safety or their family or others around them.
Rob Doar with the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus said it seems like those measures “cleared the last hurdle,” and the caucus expects bipartisan opposition in the House but there should be enough votes to pass it. On the other hand, Doar said the Senate “will be where kind of the last stand is.”
House Republican Minority Leader Lisa Demuth said it’s up to Democratic Senators Rob Kupec of Moorhead and Grant Hauschild of Hermantown to decide whether they’ll side with party leaders or listen to the people they represent, including their local sheriffs.