Minnesota Senate DFL passes new gun restrictions

The Minnesota Senate DFL majority passed new gun safety measures late Friday, punctuating a historically productive 2023 session by successfully wrangling one of the toughest issues in U.S. politics.

The gun provisions were part of a $3.5 billion public safety spending package that passed on a 34-33 party-line vote. The House, as well as the Senate Judiciary Committee, already backed the gun measures, but the vote after nine hours of debate was the first by the full Senate this session.

Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic, DFL-Minneapolis, touted the work of her caucus. Minnesotans made it clear they want to be safe in their communities and the bill will do that, she said, adding that the bill will have a positive impact on the state. "We are leading and we are making a difference for Minnesotans," she said.

The bill includes expanded background checks for private transfers and gun show sales, along with red flag-style laws allowing judges to remove guns from individuals determined to be dangerous.

Other provisions in the sweeping bill would reshape the clemency process and create a path for prisoners to reduce their sentences by as much as 17% by participating in education, therapy or training programs. Judges and judicial administrators would get pay raises and the state Public Defender's Office would receive a substantial budget boost to hire more attorneys and increase pay.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, defended the broad bill, calling it a game-changing and transformative approach after what he described as years of failed GOP leadership and Senate control on crime.

"We are finally taking steps; a new and better approach," Latz said. The GOP approach had been about increasing sentences and penalties. The DFL has a broader focus, doing more to help curb criminal behavior and help law enforcement, Latz said.

Republicans excoriated many of the provisions in the bill. They denounced the gun measures as attacks on the Second Amendment, the U.S. Constitutional right to bear arms.

Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, said the Democratic measure doesn't give peace of mind to Minnesotans. "It won't stop gun violence," he said of the gun changes.

Sen. Justin Eichorn, R-Grand Rapids, criticized the DFL for inserting the gun provisions into the larger public safety bill. He characterized the bill as a violation of the Second Amendment and raised the specter of additional DFL-led impingements. "Today it's your guns, tomorrow it's your Zamboni or your gas stove or whatever is decided to be the demon of the day," he said.

He said gun buyers already go through background checks and that most dealers at gun shows are federally licensed. As for the red-flag provisions, Eichorn contended that law enforcement is worried about the risks of enforcing the law and that some sheriffs have told him they won't do so.

Latz countered that assertion, saying that during the debate he had received a message from a sheriffs' group saying they would indeed enforce the law.

It was not clear until recently that the DFL majority could pass the bill.

Some new DFLers in swing districts had been targeted over the anticipated gun vote by the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus.

Freshman DFL Sens. Grant Hauschild of Hermantown, Rob Kupec of Moorhead and Judy Seeberger of Afton were pressured to oppose the bill right up until the vote.

"Some of these senators have a tough decision to make," said Rob Doar, lobbyist for the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, in a statement. "Are they willing to sacrifice their legislative careers on the altar of the Metro-centric DFL agenda, or will they uphold the independent spirit pledged to constituents?"

But all three spoke in favor of the bill. Hauschild talked about hunting as a young boy in his rural district and said no one is trying to take guns from law-abiding Minnesotans. "What we're trying to do is stop straw purchases and ghost guns from flooding our streets," he said.

Kupec said expanded background checks were part of his campaign platform when he ran last year. "There are lots of people even in greater Minnesota that want enhanced background checks," he said.

Seeberger said she was proud to vote for the bill and called it an investment in public safety across Minnesota.

The major gun provisions are nearly identical to those that won approval in the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this session. DFL Gov. Tim Walz is a strong supporter of new gun restrictions and is expected to sign the bill.

One of the provisions would allow law enforcement or family members to petition the court to take guns away from those who are deemed dangerous to themselves or others. In a compromise, the final bill dropped the time gun owners must wait to reapply for a permit and get their firearm back, from one year to six months.

Another change would close the so-called gun-show loophole by expanding background checks for private sales or transfers of pistols and semiautomatic military-style assault weapons.

The penalty for illegally possessing a machine gun, trigger activator or conversion kit that can turn a semiautomatic firearm into an automatic increased from 10 to 20 years in the bill.

The use of no-knock warrants by law enforcement would be mostly curbed after the bill passes. The change came together earlier this week at the urging of the family of 22-year-old Amir Locke, who was killed during a no-knock search in downtown Minneapolis a year ago.

Prisoners with felonies seeking clemency from the Board of Pardons would no longer need a unanimous vote from the three-member board that includes the governor, attorney general and state Supreme Court chief justice. Only two votes would be needed for clemency, provided one of them is the governor.

Almost $1 million is directed in the bill to establish a Clemency Review Commission. The panel would review and research each clemency petition and make a nonbinding recommendation to the Board of Pardons on whether to grant the requests.

An additional $500,000 would go toward a new office of Restorative Practices to be established in the Department of Public Safety, with the aim of fostering respect and healing between those who commit crimes and the communities harmed.

Judges and administrative staff would get pay raises each of the next two years. The biggest cash infusion goes to the state public defender system, which would receive a roughly 50% increase in each of the next two years toward hiring more lawyers and boosting salaries.

If the House approves the bill as expected, it will go to Walz.