Clash over guns rattles final days of Minnesota’s legislative session
Days of tension over stalled gun safety legislation in the Minnesota House erupted into yelling matches, with Democrats taking over the chamber and demanding Speaker Lisa Demuth hold a vote.
Democrats are staging a House chamber sit-in until Saturday over the lack of movement on the issue, a shift in tone that came just hours after top legislative leaders had announced a bipartisan deal to end the 2026 legislative session.
The Minnesota Senate last week passed legislation that would ban assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines, expand requirements for safely storing firearms and provide school security and mental health funding. Similar assault weapons and magazine legislation failed in House committees earlier in the legislative session.
But Demuth, R-Cold Spring, has not taken a procedural step that would allow it to move forward in the House. Rep. Emma Greenman, DFL-Minneapolis, tried to bypass committees to take it up on the House floor Thursday, but the effort failed along party lines.
Video and photo by Allison Kite, Nathaniel Minor, Renée Jones Schneider, Elizabeth Flores and Jerry Holt/The Minnesota Star Tribune; Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP; House DFL
