By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
In the wake of another defeat for DFL gun control measures in Minnesota, the media now appears all in predicting that guns will be a major issue in this fall’s elections.
An emerging target appears to be GOP Houe Speaker Lisa Demuth, whose daughter got column space in the Minnesota Star Tribune to criticize her mother for not moving Gov. Tim Walz’s restrictive gun control package.
CBS News entered the fray, also focusing on what appears to be a Demuth family feud, quoting Shelisa Demuth explaining how the issue of gun control is one she cares about “deeply.” The CBS report further quotes Shelisa, who reportedly posted on social media, “Imagine being the first House Speaker in state history who is also the mother of two school shooting victims and conveniently deferring a gun control bill to the next legislative session.”
KTTC News is reminding voters that all 134 House seats are “up for grabs in November.” The story points to an independent, nonpartisan survey showing 62 percent support for banning so-called “assault weapons” against 18 percent opposition to such a ban. That poll was released in December, ahead of this year’s legislative session.
According to KTTC, the Minnesota Community Survey revealed the least support for such a ban came from adults in the 30-49 age group.
“As for political party,” KTTC noted, “the poll found 37% of Republicans or those who lean Republican ‘strongly opposed’ a ban on assault weapons, with 36% in the ‘strongly supported’ category. Only 4% of Democrats or those who lean Democrat ‘strongly opposed’ the notion of a statewide ban, with the ‘strongly supported’ findings at 84%.”
The push for gun control came after an eventful year during which House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were murdered in their home, allegedly by a man identified as Vance Boelter. The same night, June 14, saw the attempted murder of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, allegedly also by Boelter.
Then, last Aug. 27, a gunman opened fire at the Annunciation church and school in Minneapolis, killing two children and wounding many others. The killer was reportedly armed with an AR-15 rifle.
Anti-gunners seized on those incidents to press for restrictive gun legislation, which sought to ban semi-auto rifles and so-called “high-capacity magazines.” The bill would have also banned binary triggers.
Reportedly, to counter a DFL (Democrat-Farmer-Labor) offensive on guns, Republicans will focus on accountability, which is also a huge issue following disclosures of massive fraud under Walz.
