Friends and neighbors,

Recently I was asked to take part in two meetings of the Senate’s violence prevention working group that the Democrat co-chair described as, "...not an official body of the State Senate...It's an ad-hoc creation...it's not defined by statute or at the directive of any legislative proposal...no quorum is necessary, and no official action can be taken." Unfortunately, the chair’s own statement leads me to believe it was created and called purely for political reasons.

We heard from the parents whose children experienced the horror at Annunciation church and school. Their words were heartbreaking, and their testimony has been seared into me. One mother described sprinting toward the school after hearing the shots, praying her children were alive. Another father shared that his daughter still carries bullet fragments in her head. Others spoke of fear that now shadows their families in everyday life. I could not hold back my tears. I admire their courage in speaking out.

I went into these hearings hoping that we could set aside politics and focus on finding common ground about how to make our schools safer. Instead, the hearings showed how divided we remain. Democrats put forward a long list of proposals, most of them focused on new gun and gun ownership restrictions. When Republicans raised questions about the legality, Constitutionality, or effectiveness of these ideas, or when we suggested other approaches, our motives and sincerity were questioned.

That was disheartening, because I do believe everyone in the legislature wants safe schools and safe communities. Where we differ is in how to get there. Unfortunately, some of those exchanges had a “my way or the highway” feel to them; as in, if you don’t support banning certain weapons or limiting the second amendment rights of law-abiding citizens, you don’t care about kids.

Nothing could be further from the truth. There are a lot of ways we can keep kids safe. If you need convincing, look no further than what happened in 2023.

Minnesota Catholic bishops wrote a letter to Gov. Walz pleading with him to allow nonpublic schools, like Annunciation, to receive school safety aid. Senate Republicans tried to expand safe schools funding to nonpublic schools in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Senate Republicans proposed providing $300 million for all Minnesota schools to make critical safety upgrades.
There was a proposal to create a $50 million school building and cyber security grant program that would help keep schools safe.

Unfortunately, Democrats and Gov. Walz rejected these common-sense ideas. The legislature did create the school building and cyber security grant program, but at about half of the requested funding level and they excluded nonpublic schools.

But that is not the end of this story. We have a new opportunity to do the right thing. Revisiting the Catholic bishops’ request can be an easy first step toward finding more common ground. We should do that right away next session, and prioritize proposals that should be bipartisan: strengthening school safety, providing funding for School Resource Officers, expanding access to mental health care, and ensuring violent criminals face serious consequences.

This could be a transformational moment for our state and for the safety of our children. But we have a choice: we can continue with hearings primarily conducted to score political points and proposals that clearly and obviously do not have enough support from either side of the aisle. Or, we can come together. We can use this moment to find areas of agreement. We can forget the extreme proposals and prioritize ideas we can get done that will actually keep kids and families safe.

Every child deserves to feel safe in the classroom, and every parent deserves peace of mind when they send their child to school. That will remain my focus, and I will keep working for solutions that protect families across Minnesota while also protecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners.

Sincerely,