GUN BILLS STALLED FOR 2017: THE PATH FORWARD

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The 2017 Public Safety Omnibus Bill was unveiled this morning.

Unfortunately, despite all of your efforts over the course of this legislative session, the two bills that gun owners have been pursuing for years in Minnesota – Constitutional Carry and Self-Defense Law Reform (Stand Your Ground) were not included.

Because of this, it’s unlikely that any gun rights legislation will advance this session.

We’re disappointed.

We’re disappointed because law-abiding gun owners like you have worked hard – giving time, treasure, and your talent – to ensure that we elect and maintain a strong Pro-Second Amendment majority in the Minnesota House and Senate.

We’re disappointed because allegedly strong pro-Second Amendment leaders in the Minnesota Senate refused to hold hearings on these bills.

We’re disappointed because allegedly strong pro-Second Amendment leaders in the Minnesota House refused to advance these bills.

We’re disappointed because rather than advance substantive pro-Second Amendment legislation, leaders in the Minnesota House are choosing to advance a bill that allows off-duty police to carry their firearms anywhere they go – while you remain defenseless in the same situation.

We’re disappointed because we expect that when a candidate pledges their support in a candidate survey, we expect that they will follow-through with action as an elected official.

We’re disappointed because legislators should know that standing strong for the Second Amendment means more than just defeating anti-gun bills – it means working hard to advance strong pro-gun rights legislation.

We’re disappointed.

So where do we go from here?

Let me ask you three questions:

• Should we just stand aside and take this?  

• Should we be silent while the majorities that you put in office refuse to act on the bills you sent them there to enact?
• Should we just let this decision by leadership go unanswered and beg them to advance our rights in next year’s session instead?

 

If your answer to either of these questions is NO, or even HELL NO!, then I need you to do these three things right now:

• Call Speaker Kurt Daudt at 651-296-5364 and let him know how disappointed you are with this decision. Tell him that gun owners will remember in 2018. Follow-up with an e-mail at rep.kurt.daudt@house.mn. Be polite, but firm.
• Call Chairman Tony Cornish at 651-296-4240 and let him know how disappointed you are with this decision. Remind him that gun owners will remember this in 2018. Follow-up with an e-mail at rep.tony.cornish@house.mn. Be polite, but firm.
• Join the cause!
  • If you’re not a member of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, join us today!  We need you on our team to help hold these legislators accountable in 2018 and advance our issues during the next session.
  • If you’re already a member, thanks! Would you be willing to make an additional contribution of $200, $100, or even $50 or $25 to enable us to further our outreach and get more gun owners involved in Saint Paul?

We’re going to hold these legislators accountable in 2018 – in fact, we’re going to start well before that.

It’s time to demonstrate that there’s a political price to be paid for not standing strong for gun rights in Saint Paul.

We’ll be asking more of you in the coming days – to reach out to your legislator, to show up at town hall meetings and public appearances, and ask them why they didn’t do more to advance strong pro-Second Amendment legislation.

If you’re in the mood to take action today in response, call your State Representative and Senator and ask them why they didn’t do more to advance strong, substantive pro-gun rights legislation.

We’ll have more action items involving the Minnesota Senate and your local legislators in the coming days.