Speaking to a crowd of local dignitaries and law enforcement officers on Monday, President Barack Obama called on voters to pressure Congress to act on curbing gun violence.
"We've suffered too much pain to stand by and do nothing," he said.
"We don't have to agree on everything to agree it's time to do something," he added.
What did the Twin Cities think about Obama's visit on social media?
Adopting universal background checks, banning military-style assault weapons, limiting ammunition magazines to 10 rounds, and putting more police officers on the street are "common sense," bipartisan measures to reduce gun violence, the President said. He also repeated other proposals to expand access to mental health care for young people.
Several gun control measures echoing Obama's proposals are currently before the Minnesota Legislature.
Want to see the whole thing? Catch a replay of Obama's speech.
Obama made clear why he picked Minneapolis as a backdrop to his speech, and why he picked politicians, community leaders, and law enforcement officers from the Twin Cities for a private round table discussion before his speech.
"This city came together" after a particularly violent period that earned the city the nickname "Murderapolis," he said. "You launched a series of youth initiatives that reduced the number of young people injured by guns by 40 percent. You've shown progress is possible."
That drop, he said, meant more "parents whose hearts aren't broken, communities that aren't terrorized."
The success of the city's Youth Violence Prevention initiative has come under fire from Minneapolis City Council member and mayoral candidate Gary Schiff for being overstated.
The President pushed voters to put pressure on their legislators to pass his package of gun control proposals.
"Weapons of war have no place on our streets or in our schools, or threatening our law enforcement officers," Obama said.
"There is no government plot to take away guns," he added later in his speech.
Following the president's speech, Hennepin County Sherrif Richard Stanek issued a press release supporting Obama's proposals and urging more stringent background checks to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill.
"Gun ownership isn’t a privilege, it’s a right guaranteed by the Constitution,” said Stanek. “We have an access problem; people already prohibited by law from owning or buying a gun should never have access to firearms.”
St. Louis Park gun control advocate Sami Rahamim, son of slain Accent Signage owner Reuven Rahamim, praised the president's speech in an interview with Patch following the event. Since late 2012, Rahamim has lobbied Minnesota's state legislators to pass a package of gun control measures.
"It still takes a lot of effort, and there are lots of important conversations ahead," he said. "We do have common ground: we all have the right to be safe in our communities."
BTW, I've admitted and acknowledged that I have been naive on certain subjects. It's not an insult, it means that I may not understand all the factors involved because of a lack of actual experience. It doesn't however, make me a naive person. It is dangerous and an insult to our First Amendment rights to judge people simply by what they say or write. People can say some really stupid things, this does not mean that they are stupid people, it might just mean that they weren't thinking before they spoke, or that they were uninfomed about what they spoke about.
Thanks for pointing out the obvious...this is meant to be sincere, not sarcastic.
The purposed law does not state what a pistol grip is so all shotguns that have a pistol grip and are semi autos will be assault weapons in Minnesota. The purposed law reads that if you have a magazine that hold over 7 rounds you can keep the magazine if you alter the magazine so that it can one hold 7 rounds. In most cases this is not possible and 7 round magazines are not made for most of the pistols on the assault weapon list so the firearm will not function anymore.
These purposed laws are not well thought out and the writers have a lack of firearm knowledge. How can someone purpose a law when they haven’t the first clue what they’re purposing?
Good information, Jim, thanks.
For the DFL, this is all that matters to them: Guns are bad, so people who have guns are bad, so any knowledge of guns is useless to anyone who is good. It goes no further than that. It's classic base-level thinking. The DFL legislators should study the founding of this country. Confiscation of guns and taxes sparked a revolt that overthrew the greatest military power in the world. They should also study the meaning of the phrase, "shall not be infringed". If that law you describe, Jim, is not infringement, then nothing is.
Keeping in mind that we know that "well regulated" meant "well trained" in 1791. http://www.constitution.org/mil/mil_act_1792.htm
Acts are effected, modified, superseded, dropped and outlawed frequently. The Act you cite goes so far as to specify the type of arms to be used; no one seriously expects anyone else to march into battle with these same arms today. This particular Act had a built-in expiration: "Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That this act shall continue and be in force, for and during the term of two years, and from thence to the end of the next session of Congress thereafter, and no longer." The overall impression I have of this Act is as a consolidation of power under the Executive Office. The problem with citing an Act which would appear to clarify a Constitutional Amendment lies in exactly this impression. It says nothing of the Chief Executive's duty to keep and abide the Oath of Office; to uphold the Constitution.
The Minnesota BCA would be the department in charge of the database and would report information to the FBI. Information would be gathered through several levels. Each local Police department will create a database with the name, social security number, MN state identification number, DNR identification number and driver’s license number (all that apply)of every person arrested for a crime that would prohibit that person from presently owning or future firearm ownership. Each local police department will forward this information to the County Sherriff’s department on a daily bases. Each County Sherriff’s department will create a database with the name, social security number, MN state identification number, DNR identification number and driver’s license number (all that apply)of every person arrested for a crime that would prohibit that person from presently owning or future firearm ownership. Each County Sherriff’s department will combine municipality and county arrests on a daily bases. The Sherriff’s department will forward all arrest information to the County attorney’s office on a daily bases for all persons arrested for a crime that would prohibit that person from presently owning or future firearm ownership if found guilty.
Each County attorney’s office will cross reference all arrest that are firearm related. If the person arrested is prohibited from owning firearms the County Attorney’s Office will immediate issue a search warrant for probable cause in the belief that the person has additional firearms. The person’s place of residence and vehicles will be searched. If any additional firearms are located additional charges will be filed. The DNR will forward all persons issued a firearms hunting license, to the BCA by name, social security number, MN state identification number, DNR identification number and driver’s license number (all that apply) for cross reference against any persons not allowed to have firearms.
Each County Attorney’s office will forward the name, social security number, MN state identification number, DNR identification number and driver’s license number (all that apply) for all convictions of crimes that would prohibit present and future ownership of firearms to the BCA on a daily bases.
Any person involuntary committed to a drug treatment facility will have their, social security number, MN state identification number, DNR identification number and driver’s license number (all that apply) forwarded to the BCA and will remain on the prohibited to purchase and own firearms list until cleared by a licensed doctor as safe to own a firearm. Any person voluntarily committed to a drug treatment facility will have their, social security number, MN state identification number, DNR identification number and driver’s license number (all that apply) forwarded to the BCA and will remain on the prohibited to purchase and own firearms list until cleared by a licensed doctor as safe to own a firearm.
Any person voluntarily committed to an alcohol treatment facility will have their, social security number, MN state identification number, DNR identification number and driver’s license number (all that apply) forwarded to the BCA and will remain on the prohibited to purchase and own firearms list until cleared by a licensed doctor as safe to own a firearm. The BCA will report all names and pertinent information to the FBI on a daily bases.
more than one year? (An information is a formal accusation of a crime by a prosecutor. It is already the law. This would be a way to cross reference between agencies nothing more. I thought Hitler took guns away from people that opposed him.
Mr. Obama believes that he knows what's best for all of us, so if we're refusing to go along with him, it's because we're either stupid or bad, so it's just better for everyone if we give him the reigns and let him dictate from the White House through executive action. His speech was a disgusting assault on freedom. He is undoing the American Revolution.
Where can I find details on this proposal?
Jim
As I mentioned above, I think the president and our state leaders have overreached on this entire issue, but all of our presidents have used executive orders and President Obama is not even close to being on the list of the top ten of those presidents who used it most. Of-course Congress is there to balance the executive branch, but they weren't "balancing it" they were blocking it. They have done it over and over, ad nauseum, and in ways that have not been done before. Why do you think that their approval rating is so darn low?...even with Republicans! Sometimes (most often) when one faces constant obstruction, one will find a way around the obstruction. It has happened since George Washington, and just because you don't like this particular agenda does not mean that we will soon be under the rule of a king and/or that the man thinks you are bad or stupid. Believe me, I think it would be wrong to ban these guns, but just to be clear, the second amendment does not say "whatever arms you want", it says "keep and bear arm, shall not be infringed". If you have any argument at all, it's with the background check, and most of the country will fight you on that one...according to polls anyway. For your review: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_federal_executive_orders
Just to be clear, I read about this when reading some other articles in reference to gun laws and the second amendment. I Googled it and this was the first link that came up. After searching for about one more second, I found the Wiki article which does give a little more background: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militia_Acts_of_1792
H.F. No. 237, as introduced - 88th Legislative Session (2013-2014) Posted on Jan 31, 2013 H.F. No. 238, as introduced - 88th Legislative Session (2013-2014) Posted on Jan 31, 2013 H.F. No. 239, as introduced - 88th Legislative Session (2013-2014) Posted on Jan 31, 2013 H.F. No. 240, as introduced - 88th Legislative Session (2013-2014) Posted on Jan 31, 2013 H.F. No. 241, as introduced - 88th Legislative Session (2013-2014) Posted on Jan 31, 2013 H.F. No. 242, as introduced - 88th Legislative Session (2013-2014) Posted on Jan 31, 2013 H.F. No. 243, as introduced - 88th Legislative Session (2013-2014) Posted on Jan 31, 2013 H.F. No. 244, as introduced - 88th Legislative Session (2013-2014) Posted on Jan 31, 2013
The "assualt weapon" terminology is third riech propoganda: sadly it worked in the 1930's and is thrown before us again. A lie is a lie is a lie. Pompous political asses can prop it, spice it, speak it loudly, speak it often but it is neo-fascist mind contol. I would remind readers and officials our constitution is more than a piece of paper. It must stand.