The narrative power of Sack's cartoon from the Star Tribune was underscored by yet another moment on Monday during a floor session of the Minnesota House of Representatives.
Two days after 20,000 Minnesotans gathered on the steps of their state capitol, the Minnesota House took up and passed three bills. During the floor discussion of HF2982, which will make some data complied by University of Minnesota ag researchers nonpublic and private, representative Rick Hansen, DFL-S. St. Paul, asked the bill's author how big the problem was and what problem the bill would fix.
Rod Hamilton, R-Mountain Lake, replied that it would make farmers and business owners more willing to participate in studies if they knew their names wouldn't be made public.
Hansen asked about the scope of this problem and queried whether it was a barrier in other states like Iowa and Wisconsin.
Hamilton said he couldn't speak to whether there was a problem in other states, but said that the University of Minnesota had asked for the change.
Hansen said that he didn't doubt this was a problem but added:
You know, we had 20,000 people . . .on the steps of the capitol over the weekend asking for help with a problem. And I'm hopeful that maybe those bills will come before us just like this one does. 20,000 people came here asking for help on a bill or bills.
So I'm going to vote for the bill [HF2982], Representative Hamilton. I think we have limited time before the break and when we come back and I'm hopeful we will listen to those 20,000 people who were right here over the weekend.
Here's the exchange between Hansen and Hamilton:
So far, the bills on which those thousands seek action have been blocked by Republican leadership. Capitol Chatter reports in Gun-Control Bills Miss Legislative Deadline:
The most likely path for getting a gun control bill through the Minnesota Legislature this year has expired.
No legislation to restrict guns has advanced in the Republican-controlled Legislature, although the GOP is promoting a variety of school safety plans.
Thursday, March 22, was the deadline for policy-based legislation (like gun control bills) to pass through a committee in order for it to traverse the typical route to become law. And while bills still could come up in a variety of ways, it is not likely.
On the deadline, 22 young people from Students Demand Action-MN staged a “die in,” barely moving a muscle, Thursday afternoon as the House began its session. The students did not talk, but an email about their protest said they would “peacefully protest gun violence.”
Some students had hand-written signs on them, including “Am I next,” “Government silence = gun violence,” “I am a bullet-free zone” and “This is the result of your inaction.”
Republican legislators generally walked through side entrances into the House chamber, avoiding the youths on the marble floor, but many Democrats walked past them into the main doors, some pausing to take pictures. . . .
Forget the die-ins and the rallies--but there's always time to pass a bill making data non-public for the University of Minnesota ag school researchers.
Greater Minnesota Rallies
Bluestem believes that Hansen under-estimated the support those 20,000 people enjoy, as there were additional rallies and marches around the state. For while the Pioneer Press reported in Thousands protest gun violence at St. Paul’s March for Our Lives rally:
Thousands of students and supporters marched Saturday in St. Paul as part of the worldwide “March for Our Lives” demonstration to protest gun violence.
St. Paul police estimated 18,000 people marched to the state Capitol, but that figure did not include the people at the Capitol who did not march. Later in the day, the Minnesota State Patrol estimated a crowd of some 20,000. . . .
Saturday’s march in St. Paul was the largest of 13 planned protests across the state, with about 800 marches taking place worldwide. In Minnesota, protesters were also planned in Willmar, Brainerd, Duluth and Winona. . . .
KARE 11 named more of those outstate rallies in 20,000 gather in St. Paul for March For Our Lives:
Here in Minnesota, there [were] several events taking place on Saturday. Beyond the St. Paul events at the Capitol, there were events happening in Aitkin, Brainerd, Duluth, Ely, Fargo-Moorhead, Grand Marais, Grand Rapids, North Branch, Rochester, Sartell, Starbuck, Willmar, Winona and more.
Local coverage from those towns with daily newspapers describe turnout that adds hundreds more to the 20,000 in St. Paul, though one greater Minnesota students traveled to St. Paul. In Fergus Falls, the Daily Journal reported earlier that Using her voice: Local teen activist organizes transportation for students to attend ‘March for our Lives’,raising over $1000 to charter a bus to St. Paul.
In the Rochester Post Bulletin, we read in Rochester students lead march, seeking change and safety:
Hundreds of people [pictured above] marched though downtown Rochester ...Crowd estimates ranged from 450 to approximately 1,000 for Saturday’s student-led March for Our Lives in Rochester.
And in Willmar the West Central Tribune reports in Willmar says 'enough is enough' as 200 join March For Our Lives:
Chants of "Enough is Enough" echoed on South First Street Saturday morning when about 200 people participated in the Willmar version of the March For Our Lives.
Willmar's march was one of more than 800 similar marches planned around the globe calling for an end to school violence and mass shootings in the United States. The march was organized by Willmar Senior High School students with involvement from DREAM Technical Academy and some logistical assistance from community organizations League of Women Voters and Isaiah.
The march was organized after a former student with a semiautomatic rifle killed 17 students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Students from that school have fueled a national movement to end school violence.
Willmar Senior High students participated in a national student walkout on March 14, the one-month anniversary of the Florida killings. Many of the students worked on planning both the walkout and Saturday's march.
The crowd Saturday included a variety of people, more adults than teens. Some were teachers. Some young families with little ones in strollers joined the march, as well as retired people. Rep. Dave Baker, R-Willmar, was there, as was his opponent in November, Democrat Anita Flowe of Willmar. . .
The Duluth News Tribune reported in ‘No more silence’: March for Our Lives draws hundreds in downtown Duluth:
Hundreds of Duluth students and community members joined millions nationwide Saturday in marching to call for action to prevent gun violence.
The local observance of the national March for Our Lives movement, sparked by a deadly school shooting in Florida last month, started Saturday evening in the shadow of Historic Old Central High School. Students from each of Duluth's high schools and from local universities spoke to cheers from the crowd assembled ahead of the march. . . .
Grand Rapids, Ely and Grand Marais also hosted March for Our Lives events Saturday. They came in the wake of student walkouts across the state and the nation on March 14, one month after the deadly Parkland shooting.
In the Fargo Forum (people from Moorhead, MN, crossed the Red River to join the Fargo rally) we read in 'We have a problem': Hundreds rally in Fargo calling for reforms to curb gun violence:
The Fargo event, organized by Moms Demand Action FM, started with a rally that drew more than 300 people and concluded with a march through downtown Fargo.
Down in Winona, the Daily News reports in 'We are here because they aren't': Hundreds in Winona march against gun violence:
On Saturday afternoon, the empty sidewalks of Sarnia Street quickly became crowded as about 250 people made their stand for stronger gun regulation during Winona's March for Our Lives rally. . ..
The Brainard Dispatch reported in Hundreds attend March For Our Lives in Brainerd:
Saying "it won't happen here" can no longer be an expectation when it comes to a school shooting, said Brainerd High School senior Thea Fisher Saturday at the March For Our Lives.
Several hundred people turned out in Gregory Park for the gathering in Brainerd.
"Since Columbine, more than 187,000 students have experienced a shooting on campus during school hours, with studies concluding the students who witnessed the attack can be just as traumatized as the children who have been shot or stabbed," Fisher said. "What burden are we asking our youth to carry? At what cost?"
Fisher said when a bipartisan effort for universal background checks on gun sales was proposed in the state Legislature, the bill was never heard. She pointed specifically to Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, R-Nisswa, who was critical of the universal background check as an idea as that wouldn't work, the Star Tribune reported.
"Need we remind these legislators who they work for?" Fisher said. . . .
In the St. Cloud Times, Stephanie Dickrell reported in 'Enough': Crowd backs gun safety in Sartell's March For Our Lives event:
Enough.
That was a major theme of March For Our Lives rallies around the country.
In Sartell, more than 300 people walked along Pinecone Road carrying signs calling for gun safety measures.
Sartell march organizer Angie Trulson said she was overwhelmed by the turnout.
"It gives me a lot of hope that there's this many people who are going to come out on a cold day and show their support and opposition to what's happening," she said. . . .
Polls indicate public opinion in the U.S. may be shifting on the issue.
A new poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 69 percent of Americans think gun laws in the U.S. should be tightened. That is up from 61 percent in 2016 and 55 percent in 2013.
Overall, 90 percent of Democrats, 50 percent of Republicans and 54 percent of gun owners now favor stricter gun laws.
At the same time, the poll found that nearly half of Americans do not expect elected officials to take action.
In Minnesota, it certainly does seem as if the latter expectation will be fulfilled, as the legislature spends its time considering oppressing muskies in favor of walleyes, fireworks, driving too slowly in the left lane and yes, making publicly funded research at the U of M non-public.
At least the MNLARS fix passed last week.
Cartoon: From the Star Tribune. Photo: Via the Rochester Post Bulletin.
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