New Gun Laws Getting Some Bipartisan Support At Capitol
ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) — New gun laws were introduced at the Minnesota State Capitol Monday morning, and there is some bipartisan support.
It's a move to tighten gun laws in Minnesota, and with most gun legislation, it's expected this will ruffle some feathers. Two Democrats and two Republicans introduced their ideas side by side on Monday.
There are two bills at hand. The first one would require background checks for all firearm transfers, unless it's an exchange between two close family members. The other bill would require all lost or stolen firearms be reported to police.
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More teen rallies are set for Tuesday to support gun control. You've been seeing teenagers make their pleas over the past few weeks, and it appears they are being heard.
"Just to see a high school student, I've been elected eight years and really haven't seen that kind of involvement from high schoolers, it's been absolutely inspiring and definitely the majority of this push is because of that," Senator Matt Little of Lakeville said.
"Some people will say that this won't stop the next school shooter. But they simply cannot know that. And it just might."
Even though two Republicans stood behind this bill, one of them an NRA member himself, there is also push back.
"There is no time to waste on ideas that don't work, or have no chance of passing the legislature this year," Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka said in a statement.
Gun rights activists say most gun safety bills will not make a difference in violent crimes, including mass murders.
"The vast majority of the impact of this is going to be felt by law abiding citizens and I don't believe that it will result in any prevention of any sort of gun violence," Rob Doar of the Gun Owners Political Action Committee said.