Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has announced he will call a special legislative session to consider tougher gun laws, following last week’s mass shooting at the Church of Annunciation in Minneapolis that killed two children and injured 21 others.
The Democratic governor said he wants a “very comprehensive” package, potentially including an assault weapons ban, tighter storage rules and more mental health funding.
“To be very candid, just in a very evenly divided Legislature, I’m going to need some Republicans to break with the orthodoxy and say that we need to do something on guns," he said, as reported by The Independent.
Republican leaders accused Walz of politicising the tragedy, though Speaker Lisa Demuth said her party was willing to look at expanded school security and mental health support “instead of vague demands for policies that have not stopped gun violence in other states".
Police confirmed the gunman, 23-year-old Robin Westman, fired 116 rounds into the Catholic church during Mass before killing himself.
Governor Walz insisted any measures would not infringe on Second Amendment rights, adding: “If Minnesota lets this moment slide, and we determine that it’s OK for little ones to not be safe in a school environment or a church environment, then shame on us.”
Various fundraisers have been set up for the victims families by the public, so far totalling over four million dollars.