St. Paul, Minn. – On Monday, Minnesota Senate President Bobby Joe Champion (DFL-Minneapolis) announced that the Senate would begin screening visitors to the Senate gallery and implementing a ban on firearms and dangerous weapons. The protocol is included as an attachment to this release.
The gallery protocol is announced in conjunction with Governor Walz’s Executive Order to enact weapons screening in the Capitol and limit firearms possession to handguns for people with a permit to carry. The Senate Rules Committee will consider a similar provision for the Minnesota Senate Building in a hearing this week.
“The policy to screen and ban firearms in the Senate gallery will protect the safety and security of Senate members, staff and members of the public who come to the Senate to observe our work in the chamber,” said President Champion. “This decision comes in the wake of the assassinations of Melissa and Mark Hortman, the attempted assassinations of John and Yvette Hoffman, and the endangerment of dozens of legislators this past summer. Threats against public officials are disturbingly common, political violence is escalating across the country, and the legislation we debate and vote on often carries heavy emotional weight. Restricting firearms from the Senate gallery is in line with legal precedent on sensitive places where constitutionally protected activities occur, including courthouses and schools. I look forward to a productive and respectful session of impassioned, robust debate that can be conducted with peace of mind for all involved.”
“In the painful months since political violence was visited on Minnesota, we have made a priority of ensuring the security of members, staff, and the public, in and outside our shared spaces,” said Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy (DFL-St. Paul). “That has included commitments of resources and a comprehensive review of potential vulnerabilities. Some of those discussions and the effort to balance safety and access have been complex and difficult. This is not one of them. Banning guns in the Senate gallery will make it a safer place for everyone, including the many thousands of Minnesotans who come to have their voices heard. This week, the Senate Rules Committee will advance a policy to secure the Minnesota Senate Building with weapons screening and a restriction to allow only handguns for those with a permit to carry, mirroring the Governor’s Executive Order for the Capitol to make our building and the Capitol complex a safer place.”
“The Advisory Committee on Capitol Security has taken a hard look at these issues with fresh eyes,” said Senator Bonnie Westlin (DFL-Plymouth). “Minnesota has been an outlier state in the lack of protection we provide at the Capitol, one of only ten states that didn’t screen for weapons, and only six that didn’t regulate their possession. Weapons screening was the top safety priority recommended by the Axtell Group report our committee adopted earlier this month. Today’s announcements by the governor and President Champion are intermediate measures, and there is more to be done. I am eager to see us take more action as a Legislature this session, including a full prohibition on guns in the Capitol, to further prevent the threat of a violent event at the Capitol.”
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