Minnesota State Senate ends suspense on guns, passes new penalties for straw buyers, bans binary triggers

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Minnesota Senate approved stronger penalties for gun straw buyers Thursday along with a ban on binary triggers, ending weeks of uncertainty about prospects for new gun restrictions this session.

The bill passed 34-33 on a partisan vote with DFLers supporting it and Republicans opposed.

Sen. Heather Gustafson, DFL-Vadnais Heights, sponsored the bill. A similar measure already passed the House and Gov. Tim Walz has indicated he would sign the bill. Many Republicans expressed support for the straw buyer provisions but said the binary trigger ban would lead to an unconstitutional confiscation of guns.

In her remarks, Gustafson called the bill "one more step we can take to keep our families and law enforcement safe from gun violence." More than 120 people die every day from gun violence and twice as many are shot and wounded, she said. "The bill before you will save the lives of law enforcement and community members."

She also cited the February shooting of three first-responders in Burnsville and the killing of an officer in Fargo last July. Gustafson said the shooters in both had binary triggers on their weapons. The devices allow one shot to be fired with the pull of a trigger and a second one with the trigger release.

Among the Republicans who spoke in opposition was Sen. Jeff Howe, of Rockville, who said the problem isn't that the laws aren't strong enough, it's that judges don't impose longer sentences. "We're just not putting felons in jail for the time they deserve," Howe said.

He and other Republicans noted that the those who legally purchased guns with binary triggers would be in violation of the law scheduled to take effect Jan. 1.

"We don't need any more laws on the books, laws that make law-abiding gun owners criminals," Howe said. "What we need is to hold prosecutors and judges accountable for the criminals that use guns in the commission of a crime."

Gustafson countered that 10 states already ban binary triggers, including Florida and Idaho. "This bill makes us all safer because it eliminates a tool that makes it easier to kill people," she said.

The vote also ended a mystery about how Sen. Grant Hauschild, DFL-Hermantown, would vote. He supported the bill. Shortly before the vote, however, he also sent word that he would not support another bill that added requirements to how guns are stored, called the safe storage bill.

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