Strengthen firearm storage laws

Opinion editor’s note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.

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Late last month, a 13-year-old girl shot and seriously wounded an 11-year-old boy while they were playing with at least one loaded gun. They were among seven children left alone in a St. Paul apartment without adult supervision.

And last fall, a 4-year-old handling an unsecured firearm shot and killed his 2-year-old brother while riding in a truck in southern Minnesota.

Those types of firearms incidents, as well as ones involving suicide, occur too often — all because someone failed to properly secure a weapon and keep it out of the hands of others. That’s why HF 4300 and its companion SF 4312, which would strengthen Minnesota’s gun-storage rules, should become law.

It is currently illegal to store or leave a loaded firearm in a location where the person knows, or should know, that a child is likely to gain access unless the person takes reasonable action to prevent it. The new bill would expand upon that to require that a person either store a firearm unloaded and equipped with a locking device or keep it in a storage unit or gun room.

The legislation spells out violations ranging from misdemeanor to felony, and violators would be sentenced accordingly.

State Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn, DFL-Roseville, is chief author of the bill and a self-described gun owner, hunter and firearms safety instructor. In an interview with an editorial writer, she said polling shows that most people want secure firearms storage in order to protect children and keep guns away from criminals and those who might harm themselves.

”The reality is that if a child gets hold of a loaded gun, an adult somewhere is responsible,“ she said.

Becker-Finn said many suicides could be prevented if a gun was not readily available to someone in the midst of a mental health crisis. ”We know that any kind of pause [can] slow someone down who is considering suicide,” she said.

Earlier this year, the nonpartisan, nonprofit Protect Minnesota gun-control group reported that suicides accounted for more than two-thirds of firearms deaths in Minnesota in 2022. There were 569 gun-related deaths that year, with 407 (71%) of them ruled suicides, according to the group, which based its study on Minnesota Department of Health data.

The organization says that nearly half of Minnesotans own firearms but that fewer than half of them properly store those weapons.

Objections to the legislation have been raised by some who think it would keep responsible gun owners — including farmers facing a charging animal or anyone facing a threat inside their home — from having ready access to their weapons. Becker-Finn counters that the legislation would not affect the ability to use a gun if someone were legally carrying it or if it were within the owner’s reach.

The full House is expected to vote on the secure-storage measure Monday. The Legislature should approve — and Gov. Tim Walz should sign — this sensible expansion of current law in order to prevent gun injuries and save lives.