FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMEDIA CONTACT:
Austin Parrish, 651.297.8407
Austin.Parrish@house.mn.gov
News Release
Representative Gillman Responds to Democrats Passing Partisan Infringements on the Second Amendment Saint Paul, MN — Late into the evening last night the Democrat majority pushed forward with three bills that infringe on Minnesotan’s Second Amendment rights and seek to criminalize law-abiding citizens. H.F. 601 criminalizes victims of crime if they don’t report a stolen gun in a certain timeframe instead of going after the perpetrators of the crime, H.F. 4300 compromises someone’s ability to defend themselves at home with new storage requirements, and H.F. 2609 includes changes to the definition of a “trigger activator” that may impact some commonly used guns and render them illegal. All passed with opposition from Representative Dawn Gillman (R – Dassel) and her Republican colleagues. “We need to focus on enforcing our current laws,” said Representative Gillman on these pieces of legislation. “As we see violent crime increasing across our state, we should be holding these criminals accountable rather than criminalizing law-abiding gun owners. The heavy-handed 48-hour timeline on lost and stolen firearms and the loose definitions in the bill are especially egregious in criminalizing victims.” “I was particularly disappointed in the comments from those across the aisle on their so-called ‘Safe Storage’ bill. Multiple Democrat members made comments alluding to personal firearms making women less safe. I am a firm believer in “the great equalizer” ability to balance the odds in the unfortunate event a firearm is needed for self-defense.” “I am especially disappointed in what the majority did with H.F. 2609 by combining this onerous definition of trigger activator with the legislation to increase penalties for straw purchases. This change to hold those accountable for illegally purchasing guns on behalf of someone else who is not permitted to own a weapon has strong bipartisan support. It even originally came to the floor as a republican bill by Representative Scott. Unfortunately, democrats chose to play politics for some perceived ‘win’ instead of supporting public safety.” ### |