By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Politicians in one Kentucky city want an exemption from the state’s preemption law and mayoral candidates in St. Paul and Minneapolis reportedly want the same relief from Minnesota’s 40-year-old preemption statute.
WDRB News in Louisville is reporting that members of the Metro Council will debate a resolution to ask state lawmakers for an “exemption” from the state preemption law, passed by the General Assembly back in 2012. Members of the council want to pass their own gun control laws, but state preemption makes that impossible.
More than 40 states have preemption statutes, many dating back decades. These laws were adopted to eliminate what had previously been a checkerboard of sometimes conflicting local ordinances. Preemption laws brought uniformity to state gun regulations by placing sole authority over firearms in the hands of the various state legislatures.
The Louisville resolution was reportedly introduced by Councilman Ken Herndon, a Democrat representing the city’s District 4. According to WDRB, the council will consider his resolution next Thursday, Oct. 16.
At the same time, the MinnPost is reporting that mayoral candidates in the Twin Cities all concur on the subject of banning so-called “assault weapons,” but Minnesota’s preemption statute won’t allow it. As passed by the legislature:
“471.633 FIREARMS.
“The legislature preempts all authority of a home rule charter or statutory city including a city of the first class, county, town, municipal corporation, or other governmental subdivision, or any of their instrumentalities, to regulate firearms, ammunition, or their respective components to the complete exclusion of any order, ordinance or regulation by them except that:
“(a) a governmental subdivision may regulate the discharge of firearms; and
“(b) a governmental subdivision may adopt regulations identical to state law.
“Local regulation inconsistent with this section is void.”
This comes as Minnesota lawmakers are stalled on the subject of a special session. Gov. Tim Walz has promised a special session to talk about gun control, which Republicans are resisting. The Trace, a pro-gun-control publication backed by anti-gun billionaire Michael Bloomberg, is lamenting that “negotiations now seem to be at an impasse.”
According to BringMeTheNews, hundreds of faith leaders from across the state have sent a letter to Walz and party leaders in the legislature, calling for a ban on semi-autos identified as “assault weapons.”
All of this is happening in the wake of the mass shooting at the Annunciation Catholic Church in August. Two children were killed and others were wounded in the attack.
