House gun control bill dead (mostly); Senate gun control hearing Wednesday
Rep. Paymar’s gun control bill HF237 defeated
Last night, Rep. Michael Paymar publicly admitted that his Punish Gun Owners Act, HF237, didn’t even have the votes to get out of his own committee, and was dead for the session.
Rep. Paymar, though he delayed last night’s public meeting for well over an hour to do so, was unable to bully Rep. Debra Hilstrom, a crucial DFL vote, into to supporting his rights-grabbing bill. Rather than allow his pet gun control bill to go down in flames in his own committee, Rep. Paymar “laid over” the bill — tabling it for the session.
Rep. Hilstrom, a DFLer from Brooklyn Center and a prosecuting attorney, is the chief author of HF1325, the Criminal Control bill, which has 78 co-authors in the House. Paymar’s Constitution-trampling bill had only 8.
The next battle
In a face-saving measure, Rep. Paymar told reporters that he had reached a “compromise” with Rep. Hilstrom, giving up 95% of his anti-gun agenda in exchange for some sort of “gun show loophole” legislation. Rep. Hilstrom assured GOCRA last night that the language, yet to be seen, will not include any government registration of firearms. A likely draft would include what responsible gun owners do anyway: require a stranger at a gun show to show a permit to purchase or permit to carry before allowing him to purchase a handguns or sporting rifle. No third party, government paperwork or registration would be involved.
Gun controllers have vowed to strengthen such a bill on the House floor; GOCRA and other gun rights advocates have vowed to kill any gun control this session.
Keep up the pressure
Keep up the pressure: it’s making a difference! After admitting that the Public Safety Committee wasted members’ and citizens’ time last night (and, to his credit, apologizing for it), Vice Chair Paul Rosenthal said he found the onslaught of phone calls and emails “annoying.”
If you want to explain to Rep. Rosenthal that citizen input cxomes with the job, his phone number is 651-296-7803, and his email address is rep.paul.rosenthal@house.mn.
Senate gun control bill headed for Rules Committee today
Sen. Ron Latz’s companion to the Paymar bill, SF458, heads for Senate Rules Committee at around noon, where it faces an uncertain future. The committee, unlike Sen. Latz’s Judiciary Committee, is not stacked with gun controllers. Your voice can convince them to put the final nail in this bill’s coffin.
What can you do?
Today, please call and email these three members of the Senate Rules Committee and urge them to vote NO on SF458. All three have good to very good gun rights voting record. Encourage them to keep their high GOCRA grades by voting no — we are scoring this vote.
Remember, these DFLers are presumed friendly: BE POLITE AND POSITIVE!
Sen.
Tom Bakk (DFL) – Committee Chair and
Senate Majority Leader
651-296-8881
Sen. Bakk has the power to promote or scuttle any legislation he wishes. Tell him that we will not tolerate ANY new gun control, and that we have long memories.
Sen.
Rod Skoe (DFL)
651-296-4196
Sen. Skoe is a strong supporter of gun rights. Tell his to stay that course. His constituents in northern Minnesota expect nothing less.
Sen.
LeRoy Stumpf (DFL)
651-296-8660
Like Sen. Skoe, Sen. Stumpf represents a district in northern Minnesota, where we don’t tolerate restrictions of our gun rights. Remind him, politely, that there is no acceptable amount of infringement.
What’s next?
By the end of the day Friday, any bill that hasn’t cleared either a House or Senate committee is dead for the year. Expect parliamentary maneuvers to resurrect provisions of Rep. Paymar’s failed bill.
We’ll keep you updated as much as possible in the coming days as we see what last-ditch strategy the gun control minority in the legislature will use to advance their agenda of harassing law-abiding gun owners while ignoring actual criminals.
