What Can The State Do To Combat Gun Violence?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The violence this weekend continues to force the question of what cities and even the state could do to prevent more shootings.
The Twin Cities is not alone in the surge in homicides and gun violence. Chicago over the Fourth of July weekend had 104 shootings. Thirteen victims were children and there were 19 homicides. In the Twin Cities, community groups have rallied, trying to patrol neighborhoods themselves.
At the same time, civil unrest continues to stretch law enforcement thin. Earlier this month, after protests in the aftermath of the shooting death of Winston Smith, Mayor Jacob Frey reached out to Gov. Tim Walz to have the National Guard on standby.
But the deployment of National Guard to neighborhoods has not always gone well. In April, two Guardsmen patrolling north Minneapolis were shot and received minor injuries. And state dollars being spent on Minneapolis public safety remains controversial with the Minnesota Legislature, where Republicans blame the surge in violence on the defund the police movement.
As more people turn to the state for help, is there anything the state can do? Gov. Tim Walz was a guest on WCCO Sunday Morning.
"The state can be partners in this, they absolutely can," he said. "But we can help with [the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension], we can help with information. We are using federal relief dollars to pump money, and we've put $15 million into public safety on the front end."
Minneapolis right now is almost on a record pace for homicides. There have been 46 this year. The record was set back in 1995 when the city had 97 murders and earned the disparaging nickname "Murderapolis."
You can watch WCCO Sunday Morning with Esme Murphy and Mike Augustyniak every Sunday at 6 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.