(Willmar MN-) Local lawmakers think Governor Walz is playing political games by calling a special session to deal with gun violence. Walz Tuesday said he planned to call lawmakers back to St. Paul to deal with gun issues after the Annunciation church-school shootings last week. Senator Andrew Lang says two years ago the legislature passed gun control measures but those laws did nothing to stop last week’s tragedy… Lang 1 Your browser does not support the audio element. …Lang says lawmakers came up with a bill to improve school safety, including bullet proof glass and metal detectors, but Walz said it was too expensive. What Minneapolis did instead of remove school resource officers from the schools… Lang 2 Your browser does not support the audio element. Lang 2 …Representative Dave Baker says Walz knows he does not have the votes to pass something like an assault weapons ban. Baker says after talking to police officials, he believes a big part of the answer is to crack down on youth crime, and for parents to be parents… Baker Your browser does not support the audio element. …Both Lang and Baker say if a special session is called, Walz and legislative leaders better be ready to talk about all aspects of what causes school shootings, including mental illness. They say the Red Flag Law, which aims to keep weapons out of the hands of people who could do harm to themselves or others, was not used on Robin Westman, even though people were well aware that Westman was disturbed.Read More
