MN Legislature considers gun-related bills: Here's what you need to know

DFL legislators are pushing a variety of gun regulations through the statehouse as they work in their second year of their state government trifecta.

Data from the Minnesota Department of Health showed that over 75% of gun deaths in Minnesota in 2021 were suicides. Of the over 200 homicides in the state that same year, almost the same percent were conducted using a firearm.

Last year, Democratic Gov. Tim Walz signed into law gun safety measures including universal background checks and red flag laws. But the majority isn't stopping there with regulations.

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Here's what you need to know.

Curbing straw purchases, increasing penalties

HF2609 would up the penalties for straw purchases — buying a gun for someone who is not legally allowed to have one — from a gross misdemeanor to a felony, matching the federal standard.

Democratic State Rep. Kaela Berg authored the legislation and represents Burnsville, the city where three first responders were killed in February by a man who obtained a firearm illegally through a straw purchase from his girlfriend.

The bill is expected to receive a floor vote. It would also ban binary triggers that double the rate of fire. The weapon that killed the first responders utilized this device, according to the federal indictment.

Republican legislators have advocated for the increase in penalties for years. Similar legislation was introduced in the House last year and a Senate counterpart bill was stalled by Democrats and kept from a floor vote in 2023 as well.

In March, Republican State Senator Julia Coleman of Waconia motioned to move her bill from committee to make it eligible for a floor vote. The motion failed with just one Democrat crossing party lines. The Republican authored bills did not contain any restrictions on binary triggers.

Another bill would require the reporting of stolen or lost firearms within 48 hours of the individual realizing that it is missing. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety reported that over 1,700 firearms were stolen in 2021.

Safe storage requirements

HF4300 would require that firearms be unloaded and locked in a storage unit when not in use.

The goal of the bill is to prevent accidental deaths, specifically for children, by limiting access to weapons, and punishment could result in charges up to a felony and prohibit the possession of a firearm for three years.

Current Minnesota law makes it illegal to leave firearms where it is likely that a child under 18 can gain access to it.

Banning carrying and military-style assault weapons

There are limits to where Minnesotans can carry firearms, and this bill wants to empower local governments to further decide those limits.

HF2828 would allow local governments to ban firearms and explosives in buildings and land owned or leased by them, including public libraries and city council chambers.

A separate bill would ban the possession of large-capacity ammunition magazines altogether.

More: Do gun buyback programs work? Thousands of firearms surrendered in New York in one day.

Gun buyback program

A bill to establish a state-wide buyback program would also ban the sale or transfer of semi-automatic weapons.

The program would purchase any of these weapons, regardless of its physical condition, and reimbursement rates would be set by the commissioner of public safety.

Despite having a DFL trifecta, the Senate's slim majority may pose roadblocks in the way of more comprehensive gun reform following last year's backlash from constituents in close districts regarding the gun regulations signed into law.

The next state Senate elections will be held in 2026.

— Sam Woodward is the Minnesota elections reporting fellow for USA Today. You can reach her at swoodward@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: MN gun-related bills: Straw purchases, binary triggers, and more