ST PAUL – A gun violence prevention working group of legislators met this morning at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul.
“We’re here because of another firearm tragedy in Minnesota,” DFL Senator Ron Latz of St. Louis Park said. “It’s been a tough summer in Minnesota.”
The tragedy Latz is speaking to is the shooting at Annunciation Church and School in Minneapolis, which resulted in the death of two children – eight-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski – and the injuries to 15 other children and three adults. The shooter killed themself.
He continued, “There is no place for violence in our political society.”
“No violence directed against officials, no violence directed against unelected employees of the government, no violence against people who are engaged in public discourse, no matter how much one would disagree with what they say,” Latz continued. “The remedy is more speech.”
Republican Senator Jeff Howe, of Rocksville, recalled a shooting in Rocori nearly 20 years ago. His son was in the hallway when the shooting happened, and said a substitute teacher was in the district and didn’t know the district’s lockdown procedure.
“My son is the one that locked down that school classroom,” he said.
Multiple proposals were heard by the working group, including one that calls for banning of ‘assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.’
No action was taken by the group, which is not an official body of the Minnesota State Senate, according to Latz.
