Minnesota Republicans Opt To Not Pursue Constitutional Carry, Stand Your Ground Laws

Minnesota Republicans recently decided not to advocate constitutional carry or stand your ground policies in favor of ideas about guns that are more likely to gain liberal support.

No Gun Zone

Minnesota Republicans recently decided not to advocate constitutional carry or stand your ground policies in favor of ideas about guns that are more likely to gain liberal support.

The Minnesota State Senate Republicans held a press conference, Tuesday, to unveil their new set of bills aimed at “violence prevention.” During this media event, Senator Warren Limmer specified several times that the Senate Republicans discussed the idea of proposing constitutional carry and stand your ground laws, but decided not to advocate these policies in favor of proposals cracking down on guns in the name of bipartisanship.

Limmer opened the press conference, explaining how the Republicans “did a very deep dive” into Minnesota’s gun laws as part of their initiative to create a safer state and crack down on crime.

“We considered [Democratic] Senator [Ron] Latz and gave him a hearing… regarding his universal background checks and his red flag laws,” Limmer said. “We also considered other issues on the other side of the political spectrum. Things like constitutional carry and stand your ground laws. As I’ve stated many times in the past, we have a reality we have to deal with, we have a divided government. We have a political spectrum that stretches across both sides… taking up any extreme gun bill is going to be very difficult to pass” he concluded, adding that the bills presently proposed provide hope of “claim[ing] a bipartisan victory.”

Later, when fielding questions from the media, Limmer did criticize the left’s affinity for universal background check laws, referring to this policy as “universal owner registration,” before reaffirming the Republican’s decision to not pursue constitutional carry or stand your ground policies.

“As a chairman of that committee that’s going to deal with these issues [Judiciary and Public Safety Finance and Policy], I don’t think those [constitutional carry and stand your ground policies] would be successfully passed in the house… So we’re presenting this series or collection of legislation in order to gather consensus and bi-partisian support,” he said.

The bills the Republicans promoted at the press conference included initiatives to ensure that courts confiscate guns from domestic abusers and non-criminally convicted civil sex offenders, a law to specifically outlaw drive by shootings in a rural setting, and laws increasing the penalty for existing firearms related crimes such as purchasing a gun for a fellon or carrying illegally while part of a gang.

Other bills discussed included a proposal to increase the ratio of police officers to citizens in the Twin Cities to the national average of 3 officers per 1,000 citizens, and a bill to increase security on public transportation.

Tuesday’s press conference included statements from Republican Senators Limmer, Eric Pratt, Bill Ingerbrigsen, Dan Hall, Julie Rosen and Roger Chamberlain.

Constitutional carry laws are those that set a state’s stance on concealed carry of a firearm in alignment with the constitution by allowing any non-felon adult to carry his or her weapon concealed without needing permission from the state. 15 states presently uphold constitutional carry, according to the National Association for Gun Rights.

Stand your ground laws enable citizens to use a firearm to defend against an intruder in their home or a potentially lethal aggressor without first having to retreat or give warning. 25 states uphold explicit stand your ground laws, according to the National Conference of State Legislators.

WATCH GOP Press conference below:

Kyle Hooten

Kyle Hooten is Managing Editor of Alpha News. His coverage of Minneapolis has been featured on television shows like Tucker Carlson Tonight and in print media outlets like the Wall Street Journal.