Minnesota officials and lawmakers called Thursday for stricter gun measures, including a ban on assault weapons, in the wake of two mass shootings in Minneapolis this week that left three people dead and two dozen injured.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, state and national lawmakers and gun violence prevention activists called for a state and federal ban on assault rifles, labeling them “weapons of war.” The group assembled for an emotional afternoon news conference at Minneapolis City Hall, and also called for a ban on high-capacity magazines, which allow many rounds of ammunition to be fired from a weapon before reloading.
“We’re not talking about your father’s hunting rifle here,” Frey said. “We’re talking about guns that are built to pierce armor and kill people.”
He said that the city should enact its own measures if federal and state leaders are unwilling to increase gun control.
“Let us do it ourselves,” Frey said. “I think we’d be happy to ban assault rifles here in Minneapolis.”
Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, who represents Minneapolis in Congress, fled civil war in Somalia when she was 8. She said she never imagined then that she and her children would have to practice how to prepare for an active shooter in schools in the United States.
“In one of the greatest nations in the world, there is something fundamentally broken,” she said.
Omar said it isn’t complex to reach a solution to ending mass shootings across the country in schools, places of worship and other locations.
“This is something that is simple — a simple ban to make sure people who should not have access to these weapons do not get them and then cause harm and trauma for generations to come in our communities,” Omar said. “It is a simple ask.”
Two children were killed and 18 people, most of them children, were wounded early Wednesday when a 23-year-old shooter fired into Annunciation Catholic Church in south Minneapolis.
Children at the church’s school were attending the first Mass of the school year when shots were fired through the windows. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the shooter used three weapons, all purchased recently and legally. The shooter, identified by police as Robin Westman, then took their own life outside the church.
A day earlier, an unrelated shooting killed one man and wounded six people about four miles north.
The two shootings are not the only ones that have shocked Minnesota this summer and thrust it in national headlines. Early on June 14, former DFL state House speaker Melissa Hortman, and her husband, Mark, were fatally shot to death in their Brooklyn Park home about 90 minutes after DFL state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were shot and wounded in their home.
Leah Kondes, who leads the Minneapolis chapter of the advocacy group Moms Demand Action, said assault rifles and high-capacity magazines have no place in civilian life.
“These weapons exist for one purpose — to kill and wound as many people as possible, as quickly as possible,” she said. “We’ve seen what happens time and again when assault weapons are used, and we also know what happens when they’re banned. Lives are saved.”
Minnesota Democrats had control of the Legislature in 2023 and 2024, but did not pass a ban on assault weapons. Now, control of the Minnesota House is split between Democrats and Republicans.
State DFL Rep. Jamie Long said he wanted to introduce a bill that would have banned the weapons and high-capacity magazines, but thought lawmakers weren’t ready to take that action. He said he instead focused on measures such as requiring universal background checks to purchase firearms and creating a “red flag” law, both of which did pass.
“It shouldn’t have taken it coming to our communities for us to be ready to act,” Long said. “We should have been ready to act then, but we are ready to act now.”
Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St.Paul, said lawmakers need to vote on a ban now.
“We need to act on the wishes of Minnesotans and for the safety of our kids all across the state of Minnesota,” she said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the leading cause of death in the United States among children and teens in 2020 was firearm injuries. Dr. Marc Gorelick, the former CEO of Children’s Minnesota, said at the news conference that it’s essential that officials look at gun violence from a public health perspective.
“They’re being injured and killed by bullets coming out of guns fired by people in a social context, and a public health issue requires a public health approach,” he said. “We have to address all of those factors, in this case, starting with the lethality of the gun and the bullet.”
How to talk to your kids about the shootings, and how you can help victims
- Minneapolis published a webpage on the city’s website that outlines mental health resources and advice for parents to talk to their children about the shootings.
- The Minneapolis Foundation has established a text-to-donate line where community members can donate to support victims of the shooting. The public can text ACF1 to 41444.
