It left me with hope to read on the front page of the Dec. 30 News Tribune about Sen. Heather Gustafson’s plans to reintroduce the safe-and-secure-storage bill in the Minnesota Senate this year (“ Minnesota lawmakers prepare gun control bills despite low hope for passage ). The House passed such a bill last year, but Senate Republicans, following the lead of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, found such legislation “troubling” and failed to constructively deal with the issue.
The spokesperson for the caucus said the concern is mental health, which is where many first go when a shooting takes place, whether in a school, workplace, night club, park, or home. I’d love for gun owners to advocate for increased mental health services across the state; it is not a rural vs. urban issue but an understaffed and underfunded need in all our schools and communities.
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Keeping guns out of the hands of those who may put their own lives and the lives of others at risk requires more than one, simple, headline-grabbing response. This is especially true when many weapons used in school shootings come from the homes of friends, relatives, or parents. Perhaps the state Senate should be asking why weapons are available to shooters. Why aren’t guns and ammo always being safely and securely stored where they are not readily available to minors without the permission or knowledge of adults in the home?
St. Paul has a safe-and-secure-storage law. Moms Demand Action, the local presence of Everytown for Gun Safety, heavily lobbied for it and for the state to follow suit. The interest is not in gun control, despite what the caucus and the News Tribune may want the public to think; the aim is advocating for responsible gun ownership.
It's well past time to make that a priority for all gun owners.
Glen N. Herrington-Hall
St. Paul
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