During the 2024 Legislative Session, Minnesota Lawmakers Passed Legislation to Prohibit Automatic Weapon Modification Devices and Collect Gun Crime Data, While Failing to Take Additional Measures
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network, issued the following statements responding to Thursday’s fatal shooting in Minneapolis, which comes just days after Minnesota lawmakers adjourned the 2024 legislative session, passing a measure to ban binary triggers and collect gun crime data, this life-saving legislation was signed into law by Governor Walz last Friday. According to police reports the shooting, which took place in Minneapolis’ Whittier neighborhood, resulted in two people being shot and killed and four others shot and wounded. The deceased includes a police officer who was ambushed when trying to render first aid to individuals who were wounded.
“We are grieving with the community as our city has been shaken by another act of horrific gun violence, including the loss of another Minnesotan first responder. Our hearts are with the families and communities of the victims, as more lives are again stolen by this epidemic plaguing our nation,” said Leah Kondes, lead with the Minneapolis chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Gun violence continues to devastate Minnesota communities. This horrific tragedy comes just days after the Governor has signed an additional measure to combat gun violence in our state. We are encouraged that the State continues to take steps in the right direction on gun violence but we know there is still so much more that can be done to combat gun violence. We encourage lawmakers and leaders alike to put political affiliations and dynamics aside and work together to protect Minnesotans.”
Last Friday, following the end of the Minnesota 2024 legislative session, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s signed into law legislation to ban binary triggers – a modification that allows a semi-automatic firearm to fire two rounds for each action of the trigger, doubling the firing capacity – and legislation to require the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension publish an annual report on crime guns. Current Minnesota law already bans machine guns and most machine gun conversion kits, but not binary triggers.
Many firearms today are easy to customize and reconfigure with a wide range of original and aftermarket parts and accessories made by hundreds of companies. Gun owners can replace their firearms’ barrels, stocks, frames, handguards, and more to adjust their weapons’ performance, handling characteristics, or aesthetics. Some of these modifications, such as bump stocks and certain drop-in triggers – including binary triggers and forced-reset triggers – increase a weapon’s rate of fire to mimic a fully automatic machine gun. These modifications pose a danger to the public because they could lead to significantly more victims in mass shootings.
Despite tireless advocacy from Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers, gun violence survivors and organizations across the state, including the Minnesota chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and NAMI Minnesota. Minnesota failed to fully pass legislation to strengthen secure firearm storage legislation. House File 4300 passed the Minnesota House, but unfortunately, it did not fully pass the Senate during the 2024 session. We urge lawmakers to take up these measures next year. Additionally, we encourage lawmakers to continue pursuing policies to properly fund and sustain community-based violence intervention (CVI) programs in Minnesota, including policies to allow Medicaid reimbursement for CVI services in the state. These programs apply an effective, localized approach to gun violence prevention in communities disproportionately affected by gun violence. These programs play a crucial role in combating community violence, which reaches across all levels of the socioeconomic spectrum. Injuries stemming from gun violence are estimated to be around $557 billion annually and come at the cost of community safety and the well-being of our children and families.
After electing a gun-sense trifecta in 2022, legislators in Minnesota took action to enact a comprehensive gun safety package that included multiple foundational gun safety policies, including requiring background checks on sales of both handguns and semi automatic long guns, creating an Extreme Risk law to limit firearm access by individuals in crisis, expanding access to community violence intervention funding, and restricting the use of no-knock search warrants.
In Minnesota, approximately 510 people are killed by firearms every year and 1,174 are wounded by guns. An average of 42 children and teens die by guns every year in the state – nearly half of those death being firearm suicide. Black and brown communities disproportionately bear the burden in the state — Black Minnesotans are 21 times more likely than white people to die by gun homicide. Also in Minnesota, American Indian and Alaska Native people and Latinx people are more likely to die by gun homicide than white people. To learn more about gun violence in Minnesota, click here.