Democratic Lawmakers Stage Sit-In Over Gun Violence Prevention Bill
State representatives in Minnesota conducted an overnight sit-in in the House chamber on Thursday after the Republican speaker did not bring a gun violence prevention bill to a vote as promised.
Representative Samantha Sencer-Mura, a Democrat from Minnesota, announced the plan on Wednesday from the House floor, giving Speaker Lisa Demuth, who is also a candidate for governor, a 24-hour deadline to allow a vote on the bill before the sit-in would commence.
The Minnesota Senate, controlled by Democrats, narrowly passed the gun violence prevention omnibus bill. However, the House, which is evenly split with a 67-67 vote tie and led by a Republican speaker, has yet to take up the legislation.
Background and Context
The push for new gun laws follows a shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church last August, where two students were killed and others injured during a school-wide mass. Minnesota also experienced the killings of state lawmaker and her husband, as well as shootings involving state lawmaker John Hoffman and his wife last summer.
The parents of Harper Moyski, a 10-year-old victim of the Annunciation shooting, along with other students and families from Annunciation, have been actively advocating to prevent gun violence. Fletcher Merkel, age 8, was also killed in the shooting.
Details of the Bill
The proposed legislation includes bans on semi-automatic military-style assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, regulations for the safe storage of firearms, a ban on ghost guns, modifications to risk protection orders, and provisions for schools to implement threat reporting systems, among other policies.
Sencer-Mura set a deadline of 5 p.m. on Thursday for action. A procedural motion to bring the bill to a vote failed just before 9 p.m.
The lawmakers involved in the sit-in planned to remain in the chamber overnight, according to Sencer-Mura. A local Fox affiliate reported that approximately 20 Democratic lawmakers intended to participate.
“What is speaker Lisa Demuth so afraid of? The very fact that she’s breaking her promise to Annunciation families to not block the bill from coming to the floor, tells me that she’s afraid it will pass,” Sencer-Mura said in a statement. “She’s afraid that her members are hearing their constituents, and are going to choose to be on the right side of history.
“This is a serious action to fight for serious solutions. Minnesotans deserve to be safe.”
Demuth’s office was contacted for comment.
Advocacy and Public Support
On Thursday, supporters of the gun violence prevention bill delivered a petition from Everytown with more than 7,000 signatures calling for the bill’s passage. Students and survivors of gun violence spent the day at the state capitol meeting with lawmakers to advocate for the legislation.
In the past week, advocates have held several events to draw attention to the bill, including a role-play by medical professionals simulating the aftermath of a gunshot injury, a sing-in, and a pray-in.
Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, has expressed support for the gun control measures.
Speaker Demuth's Position
Lisa Demuth, whose four children survived a 2003 school shooting in Cold Spring, Minnesota, has stated that gun bans are not the appropriate response to the Annunciation shooting.
“When I saw the governor come out and immediately go to gun bans, I thought ... oh, this is not the answer,” Demuth told the Minnesota Star Tribune in April. “This is not going to bring these kids back and that’s all these families want.”
Mike Moyski and Jackie Flavin, parents of Harper Moyski, have engaged in discussions with Demuth and other lawmakers while advocating for new gun violence prevention laws. They said they asked Demuth whether she would allow a bill banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines to be brought to a vote on the House floor, and she had told them she would.
Demuth has previously indicated that the bill needed to pass through committees before reaching the floor. She told a Democratic lawmaker who inquired on Wednesday about the bill’s progress that it was “being reviewed and it will move through at the appropriate time.”
Minnesota’s legislative session is nearing its end, with adjournment scheduled for May 18.
Opposition and Historical Context
The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, a pro-gun lobby group, has opposed the bill. In a Twitter post regarding the planned sit-in, the group stated: “Apparently, constitutional rights are now subject to political performance art. No amount of floor theater changes the constitution.”
Erin Maye Quade, a state senator, previously staged a sit-in in 2018 when she was a state representative due to inaction on gun control measures. However, that effort did not result in new gun laws.
