Both Sides of Gun Control Debate Dig in Heels During Hearings in St. Paul, Minnesota

Enough children have died. Assault weapons are used mainly on battlefields. Our schools should not be battlefields.

— Jane Kay, Minneapolis Chapter,
One Million Moms For Gun Control

By: Mark Saxenmeyer, KSTP.com

The gun control debate raged on again Wednesday as overflow crowds came to watch state legislative hearings at the Minnesota state capitol. For two hours, advocates and opponents spoke before the House Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee about a bill that would ban the manufacture, transfer and possession of assault weapons.

The session was drama-filled from the start.

National Rifle Association representative Chris Rager called the bill “un-American.”

DFL Rep.Joe Mullery responded, “I don’t think it’s appropriate calling them un-American,” referring to the bill’s authors.

Former FBI agent John Egelhof told the committee, “Whole communities in our country have grieved. Only the gun industry has benefited.”

Former Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan’s added, “The fact is that annual mass shootings have doubled since the national assault weapons ban expired in 2004.”

See the entire report at kstp.com