Naked Opportunism: Tim Walz Exploits a Tragedy to Add to Minnesota’s Growing List of Gun Control Laws

Minnesota’s Gov. Tim Walz is calling for a special legislative session to debate stricter gun control in the wake of the horrific tragedy at Annunciation School in Minneapolis. The former vice presidential candidate and self-professed gun owner told media that he believes there are too many guns and too many of the “wrong” types of guns in legal possession.

“The thing that makes America unique in terms of shootings is we just have more guns and the wrong types of guns are on the streets,” Gov. Walz told media outside of an elementary school in Eagen, Minnesota. “If Minnesota lets this moment slide and we determine it’s OK for little ones to not be safe in a school or church environment, then shame on us.”

Gov. Walz has, at least, a ban on Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs) in sight. What he hasn’t been open to discussing is improving security at schools across Minnesota. In fact, that’s an idea he ignored when Catholic bishops implored him, along with state lawmakers, to  provide security funding to private schools – not once, but twice in both 2022 and 2023.

The only debate, in Gov. Walz’s estimation, is how much freedom can he take away from those who obey the law in the name of “safety” after a deranged murderer became the face of unfettered evil in Minneapolis.

Gun Control as the Only Option

Gov. Walz is no stranger to embracing gun control. NSSF previously pointed out that antigun billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety heaped praise on him as the “2023 State Level Gun Sense Lawmaker of the Year,” joining the ranks of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who signed a law banning MSRs and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who also signed gun control laws.

Gov. Walz garnered gun control praise for enacting a universal background check law that requires private firearm transfers to be facilitated through a firearm retailer with an FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) verification. He also signed a state “red flag” law, that allows state authorities to confiscate firearms from individuals without Due Process rights being protected. That law did nothing to prevent this sick murderer from visiting evil on the children at Annunciation Church.

This isn’t the first time Gov. Walz has called for an MSR ban. After signing his gun control bills, he claimed, “This is not about the Second Amendment.” Except, it is.

He maligned MSRs as “weapons of war” saying they don’t have a place in America. He ignored the U.S. Supreme Court’s holdings in Heller that said firearms in common use are protected. Common use means, as the Supreme Court has said, “typically possessed,” Given that there are over 30.7 million of these semiautomatic rifles – that operate the same way as Gov. Walz’s pheasant hunting shotgun – they are clearly typically possessed and commonly used for lawful purposes. The murderer, in his cruel rampage, disregarded the sanctity of life, the house of worship and the law.

Inconvenient Facts

Gov. Walz is conveniently ignoring that the fact that he disregarded a plea to improve security at private schools in his state, or that the murderer criminally-misused not just an MSR, but also a shotgun and a handgun in his despicable and heinous acts. He isn’t talking about addressing serious mental health issues, improving security at schools or even why the law he signed to allow “red flag” laws in Minnesota failed to bring this murderer to the attention of law enforcement or judicial authorities.

He’s not alone. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is tripling down on his call to ban MSRs. He started in the hours following the tragedy and repeated his calls, and is now demanding the state rescind a preemption law that prohibits municipalities from creating their own patchwork of gun control laws – and bans – on their own.

“The best scenario is a national ban. The next best scenario is a statewide ban,” Mayor Frey said in a recent news conference. “But if you’re either unwilling or unable to act at those levels of government, give us the ability to take the steps to keep our children safe.”

Mayor Frey and Gov. Walz present a false “either/or” pretense. They claim that Minnesotans, and Americans for that matter, can either surrender their rights or surrender the safety of children at schools. That’s a false narrative. Protecting the most innocent and vulnerable of our society, our children, doesn’t include the price tag of eliminating rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Disarming law-abiding citizens only makes them vulnerable to the twisted and demented criminals who would harm those we love dearly.

Gov. Walz and Mayor Frey are wrong to push gun control as a binary choice. They have other tools at their disposal but they, and the legislature, rejected those ideas. It is a fallacy that the rights of those who obey the law should be cast aside when no actions are being taken to prevent murderous villains from committing their wicked crimes.

 

Mark Oliva is the Managing Director of Public Affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation.