Gov. Tim Walz plans for possible special session on guns in wake of Annunciation Church shooting

Gov. Tim Walz is making calls to legislators and has directed his team to plan for a potential special session on gun legislation in September, according to a senior administration official.

“It’s time to take serious action at the State Capitol to address gun violence,” Walz said in a social media post Friday.

The push for legislation on firearms follows a mass shooting in south Minneapolis on Wednesday that killed two children and injured another 18 children and adults. Police identified Robin Westman, 23, as the shooter and recovered a rifle, shotgun and handgun from the scene.

Democrats at local, state and federal levels of government on Thursday called for a ban on assault weapons, citing the fact that one was used in the shooting that took place during the back-to-school Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church and School. Fletcher Merkel, 8, and Harper Moyski, 10, were fatally wounded.

Walz, a Democrat still considering whether he will run for a third term, has said he supports banning assault weapons. Any proposal to change gun laws at the state level would face difficult odds.

The Minnesota Senate is controlled by Democrats by a single vote and the House is expected to return to a tie after a special election in September to replace former DFL House Speaker Melissa Hortman, who was assassinated in June by a gunman in her Brooklyn Park home. Her husband, Mark, also was killed.

In Tennessee in 2023, Republican lawmakers in the majority failed to pass a red flag law in a special session called by the GOP governor following a mass shooting that killed six people.

“I have no idea what he’s possibly even thinking because he hasn’t communicated with me,” Demuth told the Minnesota Star Tribune.

“I think it’s incredibly disrespectful, if the governor is serious about this, for me as the speaker of the House to learn about this through [social media],” she added.

Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, said in a statement that Republican lawmakers are “committed to addressing the root causes of violence, supporting safe schools and increasing mental health resources.”

“But calling for a special session without even consulting legislative leaders is not a serious way to begin,” Johnson said. “This is a partisan stunt from a governor who continues to engage in destructive partisan rhetoric.”

Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said in a statement she was speaking with Walz, fellow legislators and Minnesota residents about next steps.

Rep. Jamie Long, DFL-Minneapolis, said in a statement that “Minnesotans deserve to be safe from gun violence, period.”

“We are committed to taking action on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and we are ready to act.”

Only governors can call legislators back to the Capitol after they’ve adjourned their regular session for the year. Legislators determine when to end a special session if there’s no prior negotiated agreement.

When Democrats held the Minnesota House and Senate in 2023 and 2024, they expanded background checks for gun sales and transfers. They also passed a red flag law allowing people to petition a judge to take away guns from anyone deemed dangerous.

But efforts to ban assault weapons didn’t get enough support to become law.

Latz, chair of the Senate’s Judiciary Committee, said he planned to push for several gun-violence measures when the Legislature reconvenes in February, including banning assault rifles. Latz also is seeking a review of anti-hate and bias crime laws, increasing funding for research and “addressing the legality of the binary trigger ban in state law.”

Binary triggers allow shooters to fire two bullets with one pull-and-release motion, making a semi-automatic weapon release rounds faster. Lawmakers passed a ban on binary triggers in 2024, but a District Court struck down that law earlier this month, saying the way legislators tucked the provision into a 1,400-page bill violated the state Constitution. The court didn’t weigh in on the constitutionality of the binary trigger ban itself.

“It’s been a dark summer. ... We need to do more, and we will,” Latz said.