Is the Gun Control Lobby Losing Patience With Walz?

As Tom noted earlier today, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is now suggesting that maybe an “assault weapons” ban should come from voters, not the state legislature. Either way, though, lawmakers would still have to cast a vote; either to ban whatever they define as “assault weapons” themselves or to adopt language amending the state constitution and put it on a ballot. 

Walz has been promising to call for a special session to do “something” on guns ever since the shooting at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis last month, but he has yet to actually set a date for lawmakers to return to the capitol. Now it seems like the gun control lobby is starting to get antsy over Walz’s delays. 

On Monday, Everytown for Gun Safety sent out a release that’s decidedly critical of the man they wholeheartedly embraced as Kamala Harris’s running mate last year. 

 Governor Tim Walz has yet to call lawmakers back into a special session. Families who buried their children, survivors still in hospital beds, faith leaders, medical professionals, and students who walked out of classrooms across Minnesota are demanding action.

“The people of Minnesota have spoken loud and clear: they want assault weapons banned, and they want it done now,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “Governor Walz promised leadership, but one month after kids were shot while praying, Minnesotans are still waiting for him to call a special session. 

Everytown also touted a poll it ran in Minnesota that supposedly found 61% of likely voters are in favor of an “assault weapons” ban. As we reported yesterday, though, another poll from KTSP-TV found 53% support for a ban on so-called assault weapons, but majority opposition to a ban in all regions of the state outside the Twin Cities. 

The people of Minnesota also had the chance to send a message to lawmakers by showing up to a rally held at the state capitol last weekend in support of a ban. Dozens, not hundreds or thousands, of gun control supporters were on hand for the event organized by Everytown and its affiliates Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action; a paltry turnout for what Everytown claims is a pressing issue for most voters in the state. 

So why hasn’t Walz followed through on his pledge to call a special session? He might be waiting for the results of a special election in the Senate, which is expected to give Democrats an additional seat, but that won’t take place until November. With the regular session slated to begin in January, it doesn’t make much sense to bring lawmakers back just a few weeks early, so I doubt that’s the entire reason for Walz’s hesitation. 

I suspect that the real hangup is that Walz doesn’t have the votes for a gun ban; not only because Republicans aren’t on board, but because some Democrats who represent rural areas of the state haven’t agreed to support a ban either. Walz and Democratic leadership in the legislature have been pointing the finger at Republicans and blaming them for inaction, while ignoring the opposition in their own ranks. 

We haven’t even seen draft language of an “assault weapons” ban from Democrats, which is another sign that they know they don’t have the votes at the moment. That could change, and gun owners in Minnesota need to keep up their contacts with lawmakers and urge them to support bills strengthening school security and bolstering access to mental health resources instead of trying to ban their way to safety. Even if Walz ends up not calling a special session, lawmakers will return to the statehouse in just a few months, and the governor has made it clear that gun control will be his top issue in his bid for a third term as the state’s chief executive.