It’s even worse than I thought.
As you know, Minnesota Gun Rights has been sounding the alarm since election night last year, warning gun owners that our gun rights would face the biggest threat in Minnesota history during the 2019 legislature.
That threat just became reality here in St. Paul as Senator Ron Latz just filed Senate File 436 — ‘Red Flag Gun Seizure’ legislation -– in the Minnesota Senate!
And Senator Latz is not doing this alone. In fact, when he filed the bill just recently, Senator Latz had the maximum number of cosponsors that he’s allowed to have on this bill!
The news is far worse in the House.
You see, when Representative Ruth Richardson filed the House version of ‘Red Flag Gun Seizure’ legislation (House File 9) she did so with a staggering 35 cosponsors!
I can’t stress to you enough how vital it is that you sign and return the petition that I’ve prepared for you, telling your lawmakers to oppose this radical attack on the Second Amendment!
As a reminder, ‘Red Flag Gun Seizure’ legislation would allow virtually anyone to make up a claim that you are a threat to yourself or someone else and allow the courts to seize your firearms — BEFORE YOU’VE BEEN CHARGED OR CONVICTED OF ANYTHING!
More than that, the hearing that determines whether or not you will be stripped of your gun rights will take place in secret!
Known as ex-parte hearings, these proceedings take place in your absence, meaning you would have no idea that the hearing is even taking place, much less be able to attend and question witnesses, provide your own evidence, or make your own defense!
It’s a sad fact of life, but we all know someone who has gone through a horrific divorce or very difficult family situation that results in bitter estrangement.
Can you imagine what could happen if a bitter ex-spouse or a vindictive extended family member — who may live a thousand miles away — could do to you with a law like this?
Once your guns have been seized, the courts only need to hold one more hearing to extend the seizure order to last for a full two years!
On top of that, these are renewable orders, which means that if you are targeted by a ‘Red Flag Gun Seizure’ order, you will very likely be disarmed for life!
And don’t forget, this gun seizure order can be issued against you before you’ve have ever set foot in a courtroom, much less been convicted of a crime.
So please sign your petition and help us STOP this madness in St Paul!
If this were the only bill that we were contending with in St. Paul it would be bad enough — but it’s not.
Convinced that this is their year to hammer through a massive gun control agenda in St. Paul now that they control the House and have a radicalized Governor, gun-grabbers are also trying to enact a statewide registry of gun owner in Minnesota!
Referring to them as ‘universal background checks,’ anti-gun zealots like Representative Dave Pinto hope that by using this innocent sounding verbiage, gun owners will be lulled to sleep.
But make no mistake, this legislation has just one purpose: to track every firearm in the state and build a massive database of gun owners — by requiring every firearm transfer to be approved through the government database first!
No, background checks haven’t stopped a single mass shooting in the last ten years.
And no, a committed criminal would never be thwarted from buying a firearm and carrying out a criminal action by the passage of this legislation.
Lawmakers know that. And they don’t care. This bill isn’t about stopping crime, it’s about getting you and me — and every other gun owner in Minnesota — onto their government registry.
This legislation has broad support in St. Paul. In fact, when Representative Dave Pinto filed this legislation (House File 8) he did so with 35 other lawmakers signing on as cosponsors!
Please understand exactly what is at stake for gun owners like you and me if this legislation passes into law.
If you want to pass down a family heirloom firearm to your grandson, you would have to go through a government mandated
check first — or you would become a FELON!
If your adult daughter moved out of your home and set up an apartment of her own and you wanted to give her a firearm for protection, you would have to go through a government mandated check first — or you would become a FELON!
If you and some friends went on a hunting trip in Northern Minnesota for the weekend, and you loaned a lifelong buddy a shotgun without first going through a government mandated check — you would become a FELON!
Representative Pinto and Senator Latz (who filed Senate File 434 as the Senate companion bill) are ‘all in’ and are looking to crush our Second Amendment freedoms in one fell swoop!
But I’m sure you’ll agree that this legislation is about much more than just stamping out our gun rights — it’s an attack on our heritage of freedom and our very way of life!
Next to my bb gun, my first firearm was a .410 single-shot shotgun given to me by my grandfather. He taught me how to shoot it out behind his grain bins on his farm not too far south of Worthington.
And while I’ve bought more expensive and more exotic firearms since that time, it’s still the most treasured firearm that I own because it was a gift from my grandfather.
If Representative Pinto and Senator Latz have their way, my grandfather — and probably your grandfather — would have faced felony charges for giving me that .410!
The combined threat of ‘Red Flag Gun Seizure’ legislation along with this state wide gun registry is an all-out war against gun owners here in Minnesota — and we need to fight back with everything we have!
So please sign your petition telling the legislature we want NO DEALS on gun control!
And please understand that we can not rely on the SLIM Republican Senate majority to defeat this legislation.
I’ve have already had extensive meetings with Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, urging him to publicly state that these bills would die in the Senate, but he refused.
I asked Senator Gazelka to make sure that his caucus presented a united front, to send a loud message to gun owners that they would block ALL of Senator Latz’s bills.
Again, Senator Gazelka refused to agree to that.
Four days later we found out why, as Republican Senator Scott Jensen just announced that he will be sponsoring his own version of ‘universal background checks’ — the bill that creates a database of every gun owner in Minnesota!
If we are going to stop these attacks on our Second Amendment rights, we’re going to have to band together and do it ourselves, as we clearly can’t count on either party in St. Paul.
So in addition to your signed petition, I am very directly asking you to consider your largest-ever contribution to Minnesota Gun Rights, Site!
Whether that’s $5, $500 or $5000, we need your help immediately.
Minnesota Gun Rights is rolling out the biggest mobilization program that we can possible afford, as we work to flood St. Paul with calls and email from gun owners.
We’ve already kicked off a statewide internet ad campaign that you can see on our Facebook page and are working to quickly augment the size of our email list.
But we also need to prepare direct mail campaigns in key Senate districts and produce our radio and TV ads for when these bills are slated for a floor vote!
We’re working around the clock to prepare for this fight, but we need your support — and we need it now!
We can stop these bills, if we stand together and apply our targeted programs where they will do the most amount of good.
I’m going to fight with everything I have from now until the end of session, but I can’t do it alone!
Please sign your petition and make a generous donation TODAY!
For Freedom,
Benjamin Dorr
Executive Director
Minnesota Gun Rights
P.S. Anti-gun radicals Senator Ron Latz and Representative Dave Pinto are coming after our gun rights with everything they have — filing both ‘Red Flag Gun Seizure’ legislation and a bill to create a statewide gun registry of gun owners.
Even worse, Republican Senator Scott Jensen is publicly on board with their agenda and said he’ll file a version of this legislation himself, meaning gun-grabbers may be able to pass gun control through the GOP-controlled Senate!