Minn. Lawmakers Hear From Gun Violence Prevention Group

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- At a rally Monday, members of "Protect Minnesota" talked about the need for a uniform background check on all gun sales.

"The message from today is that every life matters, and that every life we can save from gun death is an important life to save," group spokeswoman Heather Martens said.

Also on hand today, Terrance Neeley, whose 17-year-old sister was killed by a stray bullet back in 2010.

"I'll be living with that pain and that emptiness for the rest of my life," Neeley said.

He now works with the group "Voices of the Youth." He says it's difficult to bring many people together to find one solution.

"For example, someone whose son or daughter or like myself whose sister got killed (by gun violence), I might feel like we need to take away the background checks, we need to have more people with guns so we can protect ourselves against those with guns … but for some who (had a loved one) kill themselves by suicide, may feel completely different – like there should be no guns, police shouldn't have guns, no one should have guns," he said.

After meeting at the Kelly Inn near the Capitol, the group headed to the State Office building to take their concerns to the legislators.

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