Tue, May 30th, 2023 - 8:19am
March 01, 2024 - 5:17am | By Ty Schonert
(St. Paul, MN) -- A firearm storage bill is progressing through the Minnesota House.
Representative Jamie Becker-Finn (DFL-Roseville) is sponsoring HF4300, a bill that would expand existing firearm storage laws to make it so they must be unloaded and locking device. Alternatively, the firearm could be stored in a firearm storage unit. Failure to do so would be considered a crime punishable up to a felony level, and would ban guilty persons from possessing firearms for three years.
A presentation given to the House Public Safety and House Children and Families finance and policy committees says the number of children killed by guns increased by 83% between 2012 and 2021.
"At the end of the day, behind every child who is harmed by a gun is an adult who didn’t store that gun or handle it safely,” said Representative Becker-Finn. “I’m sick of reading stories about kids dying from being shot. That’s why I’m doing this.”
Members of the National Rifle Association, the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, and other groups presented counter arguments to the legislation, saying it singles out firearms.
“House File 4300 is a well-intentioned bill, but it misses the mark,” said Brian Gosch, Minnesota state director for the NRA. “It only picks on guns; it doesn’t seek to require secure knives, hammers, vehicles, or other items that can be used to hurt people. As with all gun control, the overreaching goal is to discourage gun ownership and eventually eliminate it.”
“There’s no agenda, there’s no ulterior motive,” said Representative Becker-Finn. “I’m not trying to take your guns. My gun safe is full, so I don’t want your guns.
The bill passed through the public safety committee on a spit-voice vote and was delivered to the House Ways and Means Committee. You can read more about the legislation by clicking here. Additional information about the meeting can be found by clicking here.
