Republican lawmakers in the state Senate on Thursday accused their DFL colleagues of abusing their power and “playing political games” after a stalled bill from last session that would have increased criminal penalties for the straw purchase of firearms resurfaced this week with the exact same language and a new DFL author.
Sen. Julia Coleman, R-Waconia, last session introduced Senate File 733, which elevates state penalties for straw purchasing to a felony. The bill passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee and made it to the Senate Finance Committee last session but did not go on to receive a floor vote.
Coleman said during a news conference Thursday that she was approached by Sen. Heather Gustafson, DFL-Vadnais Heights, earlier this week, who she said told her they’d be “cloning (the) bill with the exact same language because a Republican cannot pass this bill.”
Under current Minnesota law, a straw purchase — or illegal firearm purchase by an individual for someone who can’t possess or purchase a firearm themselves — is a gross misdemeanor, which is punishable by a year in jail, up to $3,000 in fines, or both. The new legislation increases penalties to two years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines, and seven years in prison and up to $20,000 in fines for aggravated offenses.
Renewed urgency for the legislation comes a month after Shannon Gooden, 38, shot and killed Burnsville Police Officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, and paramedic Adam Finseth, after the officers responded to Gooden’s home following reports of a domestic incident.
Gooden, who was convicted of felony assault in Dakota County in 2008, attempted to have his gun rights restored by filing a petition in 2020, but the court denied his request. The AR-15-style guns Gooden used in the killings were found to have been straw purchased by his girlfriend Ashley Dyrdahl, who was indicted by U.S. Attorney Andy Luger last week on 11 counts that included straw purchasing, conspiracy and making false statements. Though state lawmakers are attempting to increase penalties, straw purchasing is already a felony on the federal level, punishable by up to 15 years in prison, or up to 25 years if the firearm is used in terrorism or drug trafficking.
“I can’t help but think what the woman who bought this man these firearms illegally would have thought if she knew the severity of the law in Minnesota was higher,” Coleman told reporters, referencing text messages from Dyrdahl to Gooden about concerns of getting in trouble. “I think she would have thought differently.”
Republicans attempted to bring Coleman’s bill to the Senate floor for a vote on Thursday, but the motion failed. Shortly after the floor session, Gustafson told reporters that it’s not uncommon for bills to be “cloned” in order to streamline the committee process, and that having a DFL author on this specific bill will make negotiating changes with House lawmakers easier.
“This was language that came close to what we were trying to do. It was easy for us to just take it and start there knowing that amendments are coming,” she said. “A bill is not owned by one lawmaker and this happens all the time.”
Gustafson said the bill as it exists needs more work and input from stakeholders, and she plans to introduce an amendment Friday to make changes to the bill language. She said she asked Coleman to be a co-author on the new bill but was refused.
The House version of the bill — authored by DFL Rep. Kaela Berg of Burnsville — includes a provision that bans “binary trigger” devices that allow more than one shot to be fired with a single trigger pull. The bill was heard in the House Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee on Thursday and was laid over for possible inclusion in an omnibus bill later in the session.
DFL House Speaker Melissa Hortman of Brooklyn Park told reporters Thursday that she expects a final version of the bills will make it to Gov. Tim Walz’s desk before the end of session.
“We took a look at what the federal government was doing with the federal law — they had made some changes — and what changes we can make in the state statute to make it a better law,” Hortman said. “I would expect something on that will move this year, even if they’re not ready to move it up out of committee yet.”
Both the Coleman and Gustafson bills were heard concurrently in the Senate Judiciary committee on Friday, with the latter having been amended to include clarifying language on trigger devices similar to language in the House bill.
Republican members of the committee, including Sens. Justin Eichorn and Michael Kreun, came out against the changes made to the bill by Gustafson and echoed Coleman’s accusations of partisanship.
“You probably would have had some bipartisan support, but it’s really hard for members of the public to follow something that turns into what I would consider some extreme partisanship, and hard to follow for the general public when you get these last-minute amendments to completely change it,” Eichorn, R-Grand Rapids, said. “Unfortunately, in its current form, I don’t think you have any bipartisan support.”
Gustafson’s bill was passed on a party-line voice vote and referred to the Senate Finance Committee.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional details from a Friday morning committee hearing.
Mohamed Ibrahim
Mohamed Ibrahim is MinnPost’s environment and public safety reporter. He can be reached at mibrahim@minnpost.com.
