Legislation aimed at requiring those who own a firearm to report to law enforcement within 48 hours after it goes missing passed on the floor of the Minnesota House Monday after nearly four hours of debate.
The bill was one of a trio of gun violence prevention measures brought forward by DFL lawmakers in the House on Monday. But strong opposition from the other side of the aisle and uncertainty regarding the DFL’s majority in the Senate make the proposals’ futures unclear.
House File 601 from DFL Rep. Kaohly Her of St. Paul requires someone who owns or possesses a firearm that is stolen to report the theft to law enforcement within 48 hours after it’s discovered to be missing. It establishes the first offense as a petty misdemeanor but it escalates to a gross misdemeanor after multiple offenses.
The proposal allocates $36,000 to the Commissioner of Public Safety to develop a statewide system for sheriffs and police chiefs to report and track stolen firearms, which Her said gun violence from stolen or supposedly stolen firearms is a growing problem and the leading cause of death for young people across the country.
The bill is intended to prevent lost or stolen guns from being used in crimes, which they often are, and to prevent the weapons from falling into the hands of those who may hurt themselves or others, like children. The legislation would also eliminate an excuse sometimes used by gun traffickers and straw purchasers, Her said.
“Without reporting laws, straw purchasers can simply claim that their gun that they bought or sold to another person was lost or taken in an unreported theft,” Her said during a Monday morning news conference alongside more than a dozen members of Moms Demand Action, a public safety advocacy group. “Currently, 16 states have some type of law requiring reporting – it is time for Minnesota to follow suit.”
House File 4300 from DFL Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn of Roseville requires firearms to be safely stored away from children and others who can’t possess guns. And House File 2609 from DFL Rep. Kaela Berg of Burnsville increases penalties for and prohibits all straw purchases, or purchasing a firearm for someone who is unable to legally purchase or possess one themselves. It also prohibits the use of binary triggers – a device or modification that allows a single-shot firearm to fire a shot on the pull and the release of a trigger. Both bills are still awaiting floor votes.
February’s shooting in Burnsville that killed two police officers and a firefighter paramedic occurred in Berg’s district. The shooter is alleged to have obtained the gun he used by having his girlfriend buy it for him, and the guns were equipped with binary triggers.
Several Republican lawmakers spoke up against the bills during the floor debate, calling the reporting requirement proposal an effort to criminalize legal gun owners who don’t report their firearms as missing instead of going after the criminals who stole the firearms.
“Here we go again,” GOP Rep. Brian Johnson of Cambridge said on the House floor. “We’re making criminals out of law-abiding citizens.”
The DFL still holds a one-seat 34-33 majority in the Minnesota Senate, but passage of any measures without bipartisan support will be trickier than normal after DFL. Sen. Nicole Mitchell last week was arrested and charged with first-degree burglary after allegedly breaking into her stepmother’s home to retrieve her late father’s belongings.
When asked about the uncertainty around whether the proposals would have the votes in the Senate, Rep. Kelly Moller of Shoreview, chair of the House Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee, told reporters that GOP lawmakers should put politics aside and support the popular measures.
“First of all, this should be bipartisan – all of these bills should be bipartisan,” said Moller. “The other thing I’ll say is that we’re the House, we’re going to continue to do the work of the House and the work that Minnesotans want us to do, and that’s why we’re bringing these bills forward today.”
The House passed the reporting requirement measure 68-63 on a near-partyline vote with just one DFLer, Rep. Dave Lislegard of Aurora, voting against.
Editor’s note: This story, including the headline, has been updated to clarify which bill passed and add additional details about the impact lawmakers hope it will have. The story has also been updated to correct the description of how a binary trigger functions.
Mohamed Ibrahim
Mohamed Ibrahim is MinnPost’s environment and public safety reporter. He can be reached at mibrahim@minnpost.com.
