Walz signs executive order to add weapons screening at Minnesota Capitol

Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order Jan. 26 implementing weapons screening at the Minnesota Capitol, a major security step taken in response to attacks on state lawmakers last summer.

The governor and lawmakers had been grappling for months over how to make the Capitol complex safer after the assassination of former House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman and her husband at their home in June. Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were shot the same day but survived. An advisory committee on Capitol security voted Jan. 13 to endorse the installation of weapon screening systems.

“Government cannot function effectively when elected officials fear for their safety. In the last year, Minnesota has seen horrific acts of political violence,” Walz said in a statement. “This executive order will make the Capitol — the central seat of Minnesota’s state government — safer, ensuring the people’s house remains open, welcoming, and secure."

The executive order says threats toward elected officials “have only grown more persistent and more intense.”

Walz’s executive order instructs state personnel to have weapons screening technology and staff ready before the Minnesota Legislature begins its annual session next month. Those with permits to carry firearms would still be allowed to bring them to the Capitol. To fully ban weapons in the building, lawmakers would have to pass legislation changing state law.

Democratic leaders in the Minnesota Legislature swiftly applauded the executive order.

“This is personal for House DFLers,” said House DFL Leader Zack Stephenson, who succeeded Hortman following her death. “While we are pleased with today’s action, we will continue to advocate for a full ban on guns at the state Capitol.”

“Banning guns in the Senate gallery will make it a safer place for everyone, including the many thousands of Minnesotans who come to have their voices heard,” Murphy said.

Top Republicans in the Minnesota House and Senate could not immediately be reached for comment.

The state tapped the Axtell Group, a consulting firm led by former St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell, to analyze four buildings on the Capitol complex and come up with recommendations. The firm told the advisory committee that screening visitors for weapons is the “number one thing” the state could do to make the Capitol complex safer.

In a statement, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who chairs the Capitol security advisory committee, said weapons screening is a “common sense” measure.

“I am proud of the work that this committee has done to protect the home of our democracy and ensure that every person who enters the State Capitol can do so without fear,” she said.

Maple Grove GOP Sen. Warren Limmer said lawmakers shouldn’t “completely rely on technology to keep us safe. Because it won’t.” And Rep. Jim Nash, R-Waconia, said he voted against endorsing the screening system because the “funding picture is beyond unclear.”