Minnesota House passes public safety bill, including 2 gun control measures
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota House passed a public safety bill Wednesday evening, which includes two gun control measures that Democrats have been pushing for years.
Public safety was the last measure the house took up Tuesday night as lawmakers debated until close to midnight before it got tabled for Wednesday.
One measure would implement a red flag law that would would allow a family member or law enforcement to petition a judge to temporarily suspend a person's access to guns if they're determined to be a serious risk to themselves or others. It also includes expanding background checks for all gun sales.
"This is restricting a constitutional right. A God-given right for us to keep and bear arms," Republican Rep. Brian Johnson of Cambridge said.
"We are at a point where the adults need to step up and protect our kids and make sure that we're doing everything we can to keep them safe," House Majority Leader Jamie Long said.
Tuesday night, lawmakers also spent a lot of time debating a provision that collects information from school districts, community organizations and individuals about bias-motivated incidents based on the victim's race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or other identities, or a victim's perceived association with another group or identity.
"How can we address the hate that's happening, because people are truly fearful for their lives. And the state said to me, people said to me, 'You can't, because we don't have the data,'" Rep. Kaohly Vang Her, a Democrat from St. Paul, said.
"You asked what's the cost of collecting this data? The cost of collecting this data is the cost of liberty. It's the cost of freedom," Republican Rep. Patti Anderson said.
The Senate passed its own public safety bill earlier this month, but it didn't include gun control measures.