Particle.news
Download on the App Store
9 ARTICLES
·
1h ago

Walz Weighs Special Session on Guns as Twin Cities Mayors Seek Local Ban Powers

Passage would require Republican votes in a divided Legislature.

A sign honors the two victims who died in Wednesday's shooting, 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski, outside Annunciation Catholic Church, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks outside the Annunciation Catholic School following a shooting Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)
The sun shines over the memorial outside Annunciation Catholic Church during Mass after Wednesday's shooting, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025, in Minneapolis.(AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, right, walks with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey outside the Annunciation Catholic School following a shooting Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)

Overview

  • Gov. Tim Walz said he is consulting legislators about calling a special session focused on additional gun measures after the Annunciation church shooting.
  • Walz did not specify a policy package and said any action would need Republicans to break with party orthodoxy on firearms.
  • Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, and Brooklyn Park Mayor Hollies Winston urged lawmakers to let cities impose their own firearm bans.
  • Current Minnesota law largely preempts local gun regulations, allowing cities to bar discharging firearms or to mirror state-level bans but little else.
  • Republican leaders Mark Johnson and Lisa Demuth criticized the special-session push as partisan and called for addressing root causes, school security funding, and mental health resources.