Democratic Lawmakers Push for Stricter Gun Laws Following Tragic Burnsville Shooting

(KNSI) — Democratic lawmakers and a gun control advocacy group rallied at the State Capitol in St. Paul on Wednesday, three days after the shooting deaths of two police officers and a firefighter paramedic, to call for stricter gun laws.

Twenty-seven-year-old officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge and 40-year-old paramedic Adam Finseth were gunned down Sunday morning while responding to a call for help at a home in Burnsville. Search warrants showed 38-year-old Shannon Gooden shot at officers from multiple points in the house and with different firearms. Gooden was prohibited from having guns due to a previous felony conviction in 2008.

Maggiy Emery, Executive Director of Protect Minnesota, said at a press conference that in 2022 (which is the most recent data available), 569 people in the state died due to gun related violence. Of those, 407 were suicides. The report marked 147 gun-related homicides, eight law enforcement intervention deaths, six where the cause could not be determined, and one was considered accidental.

Last session, the extreme risk protection order law was passed, allowing police, family members, or legal guardians to file an emergency petition to a court to take away someone’s right to own and keep firearms for up to a year. It must demonstrate the person is a clear and present danger to themselves or others. If granted, the person must turn over any guns within 24 hours. Critics say the law is unconstitutional as it strips gun owners of due process. The legislature also passed, and Governor Tim Walz signed laws for universal background checks and community violence intervention funding.

This year, Protect Minnesota is asking for three more gun control laws to be passed. The first would require reporting a lost or stolen firearm within 48 hours of discovery. Not doing so would be a gross misdemeanor. Another bill would require guns and ammunition to be stored separately and in locked containers. The third would invest federal funds in violence prevention in Minnesota communities.

Opponents, like Representative Paul Novotny, are skeptical and upset that it’s even being brought up right now, calling it “disrespectful.” Novotny is the House Republican Public Safety Committee Chair and a former Sherburne County Sheriff. He says Democrats and their allies are already starting in “pushing political agendas before the families of the three fallen first responders have had time to grieve and lay their loved ones to rest. Minnesota would be a much safer place if Democrats spent a fraction of their time and energy enforcing our existing gun laws, of which there are many, stopping the anti-law enforcement rhetoric, and holding criminals responsible for their actions instead of proposals that place new burdens on law-abiding Minnesotans.”

How Gooden got his hands on the guns is part of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s ongoing investigation.

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