ST PAUL, Minn. — There is a renewed push at the Minnesota State Capitol to increase penalties on straw gun buyers, people who knowingly buy a gun for a person who can't legally own one.
The debate is especially timely in the aftermath of the Burnsville shooting when a convicted felon shot and killed three first responders.
On March 14, attorneys charged the girlfriend of Shannon Gooden, saying she purchased guns for him even though she knew he wasn't legally allowed to own them.
Right now, lawmakers say straw purchasing a gun is a gross misdemeanor, but now they want to make it a felony.
Democratic Representative Kaela Berg, who represents the city of Burnsville and the surrounding area, presented a bill Thursday morning in front of the House Public Safety Committee. She says the bill is a direct response to the recent killing of three first responders in her district.
"It was incredibly important, and to do it quickly,” Rep. Berg said.
Her bill would make gun straw purchases a felony instead of a gross misdemeanor, with a penalty of up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000
If that gun is used to commit a violent crime, the buyer could face up to five years in prison.
The bill would also make it illegal to use binary triggers on guns.
"It turns a firearm into a semiautomatic or automatic state,” Rep. Berg explained.
A similar bill, actually two similar bills, are also making their way through the Senate.
Republican Senator Julia Coleman says Democrats copied a bill she tried to pass last year, arguing Senator Heather Gustafson's bill introduced this week is nearly a word by word copy.
“My bill has been through judiciary committee. It passed out of judiciary committee with unanimous bipartisan support,” Sen. Coleman said.
“Democrats are playing political games.”
Sen. Gustafson argues, as a Democrat, she is in a better position to pass the bill, so she copied it.
“No one owns bill language,” Sen. Gustafson said. “That is not unusual for a bill to be cloned this late in the session. I know I have relationships with all the stakeholders who would be impacted by this bill. I want to make sure it gets done the right way.”
In an attempt to pass her bill first, Sen. Coleman tried to force a vote on the senate floor Thursday morning.
"Mr. President this motion is urgent because these brave heroes were killed with a weapon that was an illegal straw purchase. Mr. President, my motion is urgent because I can’t imagine what the woman who purchased those firearms illegally for the man who gunned down those first responders would have thought if she had known that prosecutors in Minnesota were actually going to come after her,” Sen. Coleman said to other senators on the senate floor.
The motion failed by a vote of 34-33.
Sen. Coleman’s bill has now been moved to the Senate’s judiciary and public safety committee for consideration.
The bill will be discussed during a committee meeting Friday morning alongside Sen. Gustafson’s version of the bill.
The House version has been laid over by the House Public Safety Committee, so the bill could be added to a larger omnibus bill later in this session.
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