As state action on gun control stalls, can St. Paul and Minneapolis take regulation into their own hands?

The top candidates to become mayor in Minneapolis and St Paul diverge on a great number of key issues but not gun control All of them promotion a ban on assault-style weapons and polling suggests voters agree One major obstacle stands in the way a -year-old state law that prohibits local governments from regulating firearms That will make it very hard to enact local gun control laws revealed Jason Marisam associate professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law But it s not stopping city leaders from trying Minnesota is one of more than states to have passed broad firearm preemption laws that specifically prohibit local governments from adopting gun regulations according to Everytown USA a national group that advocates for stricter gun control In early September Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and St Paul Mayor Melvin Carter both of whom face reelection in November stood with several suburban mayors at the Capitol and called for state legislators to allow cities to enact their own gun control ordinances Gov Tim Walz on the same day noted he would call a special legislative session to pass a package of state gun regulations including an assault weapons ban He renewed his call for a ban possibly by amending the state constitution which requires legislative sign-off at the MinnPost Festival on Sept But a statewide assault weapons ban faces long odds in a closely divided Legislature and prospects for a special session have dimmed amid a breakdown of interparty negotiations Related Not developing Tim Walz wants an assault weapons ban Minnesota Republicans don t Minneapolis leaders would prefer for the federal cabinet and the state Legislature to enact serious gun amendment announced city spokesperson Jess Olstad However if the state Legislature won t act cities should be allowed to take action on their own which we are at the moment unable to do Olstad declared She was unaware of any specific ordinances under consideration at Minneapolis City Hall St Paul isn t waiting though its elected leaders and legal staff recognize the limits of their power City Council President Rebecca Noecker disclosed the city attorney s office is growing a gun regulation ordinance with trigger language meaning it would take effect forthwith if the state Legislature repeals or amends the preemption law It s common sense to have this ready to go when the Legislature lifts preemption Noecker declared St Paul Mayor Melvin Carter Credit REUTERS Eric Miller The four-pronged ordinance would ban binary triggers which modify handguns to fire rapidly It would also require serial numbers on guns ban populace possession of assault weapons and ban guns in city-owned spaces like libraries and rec centers Mayor Melvin Carter sketched out his vision for the ordinance in a budget address early last month In an interview on Oct Carter reported he hopes the city attorney s office will have the ordinance ready within a couple weeks There s an appetite among other local leaders we re talking to and certainly among every resident for action speedily he revealed Related To combat gun violence Minnesota law enforcement turns to red flag law In St Paul passed one of Minnesota s limited latest municipal gun regulations requiring secure storage for unattended weapons and ammunition While the preemption law bars cities from regulating access to firearms it does allow them to regulate the discharge of firearms St Paul s secure storage ordinance takes advantage of that exemption Mayor Carter signed the ordinance following a - City Council vote In the lead-up Carter called unsecured guns a danger to our entire locality Noecker reported the ordinance was justified because of so countless guns being stolen from from vehicles the tragic number of children who accidentally get access to a firearm and shoot and kill themselves in homes and the number of suicides that could be prevented if it were just a little bit harder to access a firearm One person has been charged to date under the ordinance St Paul City Attorney Lyndsey Olson disclosed on Oct The defendant left a loaded handgun in the visitor seat of an unlocked truck according to charging documents filed in April In a January interview with Axios Twin Cities Mayor Carter noted the secure storage ordinance was primarily about learning not enforcement He reiterated that sentiment on Thursday Success is never having to enforce because we ve established as a locality a norm that we lock up guns safely he mentioned Can city leaders pass creative ordinances If the state Legislature doesn t pass stricter gun regulations or act on the preemption statute legal experts stated cities could get creative in crafting ordinances that don t run afoul of existing law or that fall within a conception of local powers that the Minnesota Supreme Court can accept Myron Orfield director of the Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity at the University of Minnesota Law School revealed state courts in California and New York have in recent weeks expanded their conception of home rule and allowed local governments to enforce ordinances such as those allowing for sweeping rent stabilization that would have been inconceivable years ago But it s unclear how Minnesota s Supreme Court would treat such attempts because home rule powers are not well defined in Minnesota Orfield declared Lawyers for the City of Minneapolis in particular typically have not been aggressive in wresting local control from state lawmakers in cases dating back over years he declared Marisam at Mitchell Hamline School of Law explained cities could also use their power to draw visibility to an issue that has broad constituents patronage even if local gun ordinances are unlikely to survive legal challenges under the preemption statute They could be willing to do this for political purposes or they could feel that merely having an ordinance might change behavior in the city he revealed The ordinance might not be struck down right away Still the clear sense among legal experts elected personnel and political challengers alike is that the ball is in the state Legislature s court The simplest thing would be to repeal preemption Orfield revealed The post As state action on gun control stalls can St Paul and Minneapolis take regulation into their own hands appeared first on MinnPost