How Much Has the NRA Given to Minnesota Legislators?

Fifth District Rep. Keith Ellison hasn’t received any contributions from the gun rights group, but others in Minnesota's congressional delegation have gotten thousands of dollars.

The Sandy Hook school shooting may have added new fuel to the gun control debate, but advocacy groups have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to federal legislators since 2009, according to a report released Friday. Nonpartisan research organization MapLight, in coordination with Tableau Software, compiled contribution totals for the leading advocacy groups in the gun control debate—the National Rifle Association and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. The NRA’s Political Action Committee dwarfs the Brady Campaign’s in terms of contributions to legislators. It gave about $1.5 million to legislators compared to the Brady Campaign’s $5,900. In Minnesota, the NRA gave nearly $30,000 to legislators—ranking the state 20th in NRA …

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County Attorney: 5 Things We Need to Keep Guns From Dangerous People

Mike Freeman suggested some fixes to state law that would keep guns from people he thinks shouldn’t have them.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-District 46) and Rep. John Lesch (DFL-District 66B) are pushing for five changes to state law that they say would keep guns from people who shouldn’t have them. At a press conference Thursday, Freeman spelled out the following recommendations included in the legislation that’s been introduced: Watch the three men speak about the proposal in the video above. Hearings on the proposal are scheduled for next week in the House and the end of February in the Senate.

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The Fifth District Report

Ellison Praises Obama’s ‘Progressive’ Inaugural Address

The 5th District representative liked the speech’s comments on income equality, gay rights and other issues.

Fifth District Rep. Keith Ellison is praising the progressive values he heard in President Barack Obama’s second inaugural address.  “As the co-chair of the Progressive Caucus, it is my considered opinion that this was a progressive speech,” Ellison said Monday on The Ed Show. “It was a speech that any progressive could say, ‘That’s what I’m talking about.’ I found myself spontaneously cheering in the middle of the speech. It was the kind of speech that just made me feel really good because it combined our common humanity, combined our need for economic fairness, combined the idea that better days our coming if we will step up to meet them.” Ellison particularly noted the president’s focus on income inequality, programs like Social …

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