This week in our country,
with gun violence coming to the
forefront in another week of people
saying something has to change.
There was a rally at the Capitol
today that was planned before what
happened this week at Michigan State,
but it brought all of that back into focus.
Moms demand action against gun violence
marked 10 years of organizing and lobbying
for gun law reforms in our state.
And now, a decade later,
they say they finally believe
that they will help move a couple
of bills across the finish line.
So why now? What's changed and what
could we expect if they're correct?
Kent's here to talk about it.
Hey, Kent.
Hey, John. Let's start with what we
might be able to expect with the
two big bills that look like they
could have the votes this time.
The first would require universal
background checks for all gun purchases,
not just for those from licensed dealers.
The other would create a so-called
red Flag law allowing for
extreme risk Protection Orders,
which 19 states already have on the books.
Now there are opponents of course.
Like the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus,
who argued that the background checks
will only inconvenience law abiding
gun owners and that red flag laws
lead to concerns over due process.
But Moms demand action says the majority
of the public is on their side on this,
and this time the political majority is too.
I am not home. Affected.
But this is the year that we
finally enact life saving,
common sense gun violence professional
measures in Minnesota. Volunteers
with Moms demand action spoke with
confidence at the Capitol today.
Knowing they now have the votes
to pass the gun control bills
they've spent a decade supporting,
I'm going to take it one step further.
We're not hoping we're demanding,
we are demand. He.
Shannon Watts started Moms demand
action the day after the shooting
at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012.
The mother of five says it started
with a Facebook group from her home
in Indianapolis, and it now has
chapters in every single state.
I wouldn't wake up and do this work
every day if we weren't winning.
I mean, there has been a seismic shift
in American politics on this issue.
You know, back when I started,
about 1/4 of all Democrats in Congress
actually had an A rating from the NRA.
Today, none do.
And in fact, 15 Republicans
voted for the bipartisan safer.
Communities act that passed this
summer's first federal legislation
on gun safety in a generation.
And if Minnesota soon follows suit,
she says it will be thanks to a
decade of organizing that's resulted
in several moms and students demand
action volunteers who have now been
elected themselves and could soon
cast the pivotal votes. And we can't
do this now. And the trifecta
we will never be able
to do. This
generation has grown up now with the
reality of mass shootings and seeing this.
Playing out, how have you seen
that change this movement?
You know, I think we're going to see
an entire generation of Americans
who are really angry and who feel
that their older generations,
their parents, their grandparents,
really let them down by allowing
the gun lobby essentially to
write our nation's gun laws.
I'm real. We are.
Acting like these are acts of nature
when they are man-made acts of cowardice.
The reason that our children are getting
shot at in their schools, in their streets,
the reason that they have to do these
lockdown drills in the 1st place,
is because we are allowing dangerous
people to have easy access to guns.
We can stop that.
Our lawmakers have the power not
to eradicate the Second Amendment
or take away people's guns,
but simply to restore the responsibilities
that should go along with gun rights.
And that's something the vast
majority of Americans.
Including Republicans and gun owners
agree on we have been emailing
now in regards to that last statement.
It is true that public polling here
in Minnesota shows that people
from both parties do support
universal background checks.
Between 75 and 90% of people have
favored them in recent polls.
But while red flag laws are also
favored overall by about 60% of voters,
that's driven by 93% support from Democrats
compared to just 38% of Republicans.
So Jana. That one's not exactly
considered bipartisan in that way.
Yeah, not cut and dried there,
but that first one and and that's
basically what you talked about, right.
They think they have something
these groups that want them,
Democrats and the moms demand
Action Group that they want
universal background checks.
That's kind of the first on,
on what they want this year.
That's the first one.
And the red flag glass will be
something that will continue to hear
about here at the at the legislature.
And and to be Frank again,
it's a DFL trifecta right now.
So they could have the
votes for that as well.
All right. Thanks so much,
Kent. We appreciate it.