St. Cloud Sun

Minnesota Senate Republicans have recently proposed various legislations to combat violent crime. 

The violence prevention bills would ensure people don’t obtain permits to carry firearms if they haven’t received authorization, prohibit civilly committed sex offenders from possessing a firearm, increase the penalty for intentionally transferring a firearm to a known criminal, ensure individuals subjected to orders for protection surrender their firearms and prohibit the disarming of peace officers who are in good standing.

Amendments to existing laws involve changing the definition of a drive-by shooting crime to include any shooting that occurs from a moving vehicle and increasing the offense to a felony for criminal gang members who posses pistols in public. Other legislation deals with increasing police presence in public transit, reaching the nationwide average police-to-citizen ratio and increasing funds for Violent Crime Enforcement Teams.

“A top priority of Minnesota’s government is to guarantee that Minnesotans are safe when they go about their daily lives,” Senator Jeff Howe (R-Rockville) said in a press release. “Yet, over the past two years, Minnesota has seen an upturn in violent crime. The proposals that we announced this week take the fight to criminals and protect our communities through common-sense reform.”