Walz’s urgency to act on gun violence runs into political reality in divided Legislature

If anyone wants Gov. Tim Walz to call a special legislative session to take on gun violence, you’d think it would be Ron Latz. 

The St. Louis Park DFLer chairs the Minnesota Senate’s Judiciary and Public Safety Committee and has written perhaps the state’s most ambitious gun control legislation ever, a 2023 law that lets courts take away guns from people judged to be a threat to themselves or others. 

But while Walz is preaching urgency, Latz is practicing patience. In the wake of the fatal shooting at Annunciation Catholic school and church last week and the assassination of Melissa Hortman in June, Latz wants to form a “working group” on gun violence prevention efforts. 

“I want to make a serious effort here to reduce violence,” Latz said. “In order to do that, we need to take a little bit of time to talk to people.”

Obviously, Latz and most (but not all) DFL lawmakers would speed back to the Capitol if they had the votes to ban assault rifles or other gun control measures on their wish list. 

But they don’t have the votes. For now, Republicans hold a majority in the House. 

On Thursday, House Republicans released a “school safety agenda” that called for mandatory minimum prison sentences for gun recidivists and “for straw purchasers who enable a violent crime,” but not restrictions on who can legally buy a gun, or what gun they can purchase.

Related: To combat gun violence, Minnesota law enforcement turns to ‘red flag’ law

This puts DFLers in a spot. Either quietly walk back the special session idea and hope no one speaks of it again, or hold a special session in which none of their legislative priorities is passed. 

“I’m not sure if the governor will or should call a special session,” said Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, and sponsor of a raft of gun control proposals. Marty, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, said simply holding hearings on gun control bills, and not taking votes, would be a sufficient first step. 

A week after the Minneapolis school shooting that left two people dead and 21 injured, here is what we know about the state government’s response.

On gun violence, what does Walz want?

The governor wants to use his sole authority to call a special legislative session, at which lawmakers would debate and pass public safety bills. If no special session is called, the Legislature cannot introduce and vote on bills until February. 

On Tuesday, Walz told reporters he will put out a “very comprehensive” package “in the next day or so” to better protect students. 

As for what is in the package, Walz alluded to “weapons of war,” which suggests a ban on assault rifles and other guns where someone can fire over a dozen bullets without having to reload. He also mentioned strengthening a 2024 law that made it a gross misdemeanor to store loaded firearms where a child is likely to access them. 

“My focus is going to be a very narrow special session on protecting our children and making sure our schools are safe,” the governor said.

To accomplish his goal, Walz spoke with House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, on Tuesday afternoon and has reached out to other lawmakers.

Asked whom else the governor has talked to, a Walz spokesperson said, “the governor is having ongoing conversations with legislators. We can’t speak for them, but the governor feels urgency to take action.” 

What do GOP lawmakers want?

Historically, special sessions get called when the governor and legislative leaders can’t agree upon a state budget during a regular session. There have also been single-issue sessions, during which lawmakers have greenlit money toward COVID-19 response and flood relief. 

The common thread is that special sessions are highly scripted. Like a trial lawyer who only asks questions they know the answer to, a governor usually calls the session when they know precisely what lawmakers will do. 

Right now, the governor and legislators are reading from different scripts. 

Because of Hortman’s death, Republicans have sole control of the House, at least until a special election later this month for the former speaker emerita’s seat. 

The House Republican school safety proposal calls for unspecified additional monies for a 2025 measure known as the Shield Act, which lets the Minnesota Department of Public Safety provide security grants to school districts and charter schools. 

Another GOP idea highlights a 2024 statute aimed in part at providing training for school resource officers. Demuth and GOP Floor Leader Harry Niska, who represents Ramsey, want these officers available to every school. 

Demuth and Niska also called for unspecified additional funding for treatment beds at mental health care facilities. 

“The policies we are proposing will protect students, provide desperately needed mental health care and hold criminals who commit the vast majority of gun violence accountable,” Demuth said in a statement. 

DFLers interviewed for this story generally support these ideas, with the caveat of how a state facing budget troubles will pay for all of it. 

“I hope Democrats will join us in supporting these common sense reforms if the governor calls a special session,” Niska said in a statement. 

Demuth and Niska’s more contentious proposals include more flexibility to school districts in how they spend state money, and opening up school security funding for private schools, including Catholic schools. 

For half a century, the state government has funded per-pupil aid and transportation for private school students. Walz and DFL lawmakers tried, and failed, to get rid of money for private schools in this year’s legislative session. 

What do DFL lawmakers want?

Republicans including Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, have slammed Walz for talking to the media before Republican lawmakers about a special session. 

“Calling for a special session without even consulting legislative leaders is not a serious way to begin,” Johnson said in a statement. “This is a partisan stunt from a governor who continues to engage in destructive political rhetoric.”

But the governor has not exhaustively consulted with DFLers either. Marty and Latz say they have not spoken to Walz, though Latz said he conversed with Walz’s staff. 

“We’re not exactly sure what the governor’s plan is,” Latz said. 

Related: Minnesota likely knew nothing of Boelter’s gun arsenal, and that’s the law

The top DFL lawmaker is Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy. Asked if she had spoken to Walz, the St. Paul legislator said she talked to the governor last Friday. 

Murphy said that she is mostly working closely with her caucus, and pushing for Latz’s working group idea. She stressed that putting forth a policy package must be coupled with grieving. 

“This is a really painful moment for the state of Minnesota,” Murphy said. 

Can we get more specifics on what DFL legislation on gun violence might, at some point, be considered?

A primer on the universe of gun control legislation can be gleaned just by reading Marty’s old bills. Besides bans on semiautomatic weapons, the senator has proposed everything from requiring liability insurance for gun owners to a ban on 3D-printed guns. 

Many of these measures went nowhere, even with Walz as governor and DFL majorities in the House and Senate. But some became law, including a required background check during the private transfer of firearms, increased penalties for straw purchases and machine gun ownership, and the state’s red flag law, which allows for petitions to temporarily confiscate guns from people thought to be a threat to themselves or others. 

Why are you confident Walz doesn’t have the votes now to pass gun control laws?

Last year, the Minnesota Reformer reported on the DFL’s notably modest gun control agenda for the 2024 legislative session. 

One reason was uniform GOP opposition. Another reason was that three DFL senators, Grant Hauschild of Hermantown, Rob Kupec of Moorhead, and Judy Seeberger of Afton, made it known they wanted no part of voting for further gun control. 

On Tuesday, Walz said, “I need some Republicans that are going to break with the orthodoxy and say that we need to do something on guns, and that’s the opportunity right now.”

But there is also no indication that Hauschild, Kupec or Seeberger would change their minds. Numerous messages left with the three DFL lawmakers for this story went unreturned. 

Another glaring obstacle is that 34 votes are needed to move anything out of the Senate. The DFL holds a 33-32 advantage over Republicans in that chamber, a situation that will not change until special elections in November. 

In the past week, Walz succeeded in making gun control a topic discussed by Minnesotans. The plan from there is murky. 

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Editor’s note: This article first appeared on MinnPost and was written by Matthew Blake, state government reporter for MinnPost. It is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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