Families in Minneapolis are mourning.
Our greater enunciation fellowship is
mourning.
Our entire city is united in grief and
at the same time based on this
incredible group of people that has
assembled here in city hall, we are also
united in action.
We are committed to not having this be
the scenario where another politician
comes up to say never again.
Another person stands in front of a
microphone to announce a horribly tragic
and unspeakable situation where more
family members have been killed.
We are committed to making this time
different.
And we have so many residents around our
city and around our state that are 100%
united to make sure that something like
this doesn't happen again.
Of course, we're standing up with love.
Of course, we're standing up with
thoughts and with prayers.
But thoughts and prayers are not going
to cut it.
It's on all of us to see this through so
that there is an action so that
something like this never happens again.
We need action at the federal level. We
need action at the state level. We need
coordination with the cities around the
country to make sure that every person
has this common foundation of safety
where they can send their kid off to
school and have the confidence that they
will be safe.
Think of these kids not as somebody
else's, but of as your own.
Think of those last words that you had
with your child just this morning before
you sent them into school. You kissed
them on the cheek. You got them set up
with their shoes. You pushed them a
pouch of applesauce. Maybe these were
little annoyances. But the truth is that
there's this common and beautiful thing.
We love our children. Make these changes
not out of hate.
Make them out of a simple and beautiful
foundational love for our kids.
And so what are we talking about when we
talk about action? We need to take talk
about the action steps that need to take
place. We need a statewide and a federal
ban on assault weapons.
We need a statewide and a federal ban on
highcapacity magazines.
There is no reason that someone should
be able to reel off 30 shots before they
even have to reload.
We're not talking about your father's
hunting rifle here.
We're talking about guns that are built
to pierce armor and kill people. Why do
we have them coming in by the trunk
loads onto our streets around the
country? And this is not just about
Minneapolis.
Because you can buy an assault rifle in
Milwaukee and that assault rifle is in
Minneapolis by noon that very same day.
And so when we talk about the work that
needs to be done, it's going to take a
whole lot of unity from a lot of
different cities. cities and I've gotten
calls from their mayors
who have experienced virtually the same
thing that we experienced yesterday. And
because we love our kids, because we
love our families, because we love our
constituents, we all have the obligation
to act. And what you see here,
you see federal congresswoman,
you see our entire or we see our
Minneapolis state delegation. You have
council members from both Minneapolis
and St. Paul. You have our sheriff.
You have Moms Demand Action, Protect
Minnesota
and every town all united and rallying
around a common theme, which is keeping
our cities and our country safe. And
here's the thing.
To the extent
the federal government isn't willing to
do it, to the extent a divided
legislature prevents our state from
acting. And by the way, I know that our
Minneapolis delegation is on board with
this work because they've been doing it.
Thank you.
But here's the final ask.
To the extent other levels of government
are either unwilling or unable to keep
cities safe,
let us do it ourselves.
We are responsible for 435,000
residents that call Minneapolis home and
many more that come and go.
I think we'd be happy to ban assault
rifles here in Minneapolis.
I know we'd be happy to prevent a next
mass shooting from taking place.
We have every obligation, not just to
each other, but to these families that
call Minneapolis home.
We love them. Let's love them with more
than words. Let's love them with the
kind of action that will forever make
the difference for people in our city.
So the next goround, there's not another
city two months from now that is saying
the same damn thing. Let's stop this
from happening. Let's stand up for our
children. Let's stand up for each and
every one of them.
So, it takes a whole team to pack this
hall,
to put these events together, but more
importantly to do the kind of long-term
advocacy that results in change. I
mentioned a number of groups that are
here uh and I have the honor and please
give her a very warm welcome uh of of
welcoming up uh from Moms Demand Action
an exceptional volunteer in Leia Connis.
Thank you. As the mayor said, my name is
Leah Condis. I lead the Minneapolis
local group of Moms Demand Action for
Gunsense in America. But today, I'm not
here just as an advocate. I am here as a
mom. I have three daughters. One of them
has already lived through shootings at
both the mall and the state fair.
And I'm a Catholic. I forgot to mention
that part. Um, now here in our own city,
families are living through the
nightmare of a shooting on the very
first day of school.
Annunciation Catholic School should have
been a sanctuary,
a place where kids laugh with their
friends. Teachers prepared lessons.
Parents feel safe dropping their
children off in the morning. Instead,
gunfire tore through those doors.
Children were gunned down in church
praying in their place of worship.
Another school year begins and once
again it is marked by gun violence.
And this is not an isolated incident.
Less than 24 hours before this tragedy,
there was another shooting here in
Minneapolis. And in that case, an AR-15
style assault weapon was used. These are
weapons of war, and they are tearing
through our communities over and over
again.
We cannot call ourselves a free country
when parents cannot send their kids to
school without wondering if they will
come home alive. And even for the
children who survive, the trauma will
live with them forever.
All signs point to yesterday's shooting
also being carried out with an assault
weapon. These guns were designed for
battlefields,
not for our schools, not for our
churches,
and not for our neighborhoods. No
civilian needs a gun that can fire
dozens of rounds in seconds.
These weapons exist for one purpose, to
kill and wound as many people as
possible as quickly as possible.
We've seen what happens time and again
when assault weapons are used.
And we also know what happens when
they're banned. Lives are saved. When
the federal assault weapons ban was in
place, mass shootings went down. After
it expired, they increased. We cannot
afford more delay.
Here in Minneapolis, this tragedy comes
after three other deadly shootings in
just 24 hours. Our city is in pain. Our
state is in pain. And yet still
lawmakers at the state and federal
levels refuse to do the one thing that
could stop this. Ban assault weapons and
Sending kids to school should not mean
sending them into a war zone. Enough is
enough. Our children deserve better. Our
teachers deserve better. Our communities
deserve better. So today, on behalf of
the families reeling from this shooting,
and on behalf of every parent who lies
awake at night wondering if their child
is safe, we are demanding action.
Minnesota must lead and Congress must
follow. Ban assault weapons and
highcapacity magazines. Get these
weapons of war off our streets and out
of our communities. Our kids cannot wait
any longer.
Now, it is my privilege to introduce my
Congresswoman, Representative Ilhan
Omar.
Thank you, Leah. Um, as Leah said, it
shouldn't be hard to ban assault weapons
and high capacity ammunition.
What is hard is being a mother,
having just dropped off your babies,
just returning home to clean up the mess
that was left after breakfast, getting
rid of that cereal bowl,
maybe the little bit of egg, scrambled
eggs that was left over, the half
dranken juice box.
That should be hard.
and receiving that phone call before you
are even able to get rid of the residue
that your babies left as you dropped
them off at school. And to hear that
your two angels are no more.
that someone
evil enough was afforded the ability to
get a weapon that could be used to
assassinate them through a window at
their school while they sat for morning
mass.
I do not know
what society finds themselves in the
place that we continuously find
themselves
since Coline
that comes together in these moments of
grief that rightfully plays prays for
the grieving families and victims
but does not come together
to do whatever they can to make sure
this does not happen again.
Leah and the mayor mentioned
the fact that these are
weapons that are used in war.
I know a little bit about that.
At the age of eight, I survived war
myself.
I never imagined
that I'd come to the United States
and be in high school
and that there would be a school
shooting
and that I myself
and my kids to come
would practice
school drills on how to avoid being
gunned down in one of the greatest
nations in the world.
There is something fundamentally broken.
I know that in America we value life.
I know that in America we are loving
neighbors.
I know that in America we are people of
faith because these babies that were
gunned down were actually kneeling in
prayer.
But what I do not know
is why uniquely in America
we have
the capacity
to not change what we know we can.
So that is what we we must ask
ourselves.
This is not a big issue for us to solve
like curing cancer or AIDS even though
we attempt to do that every single day.
This is something that is simple. A
simple ban to make sure people who
should not have access to these weapons
do not get them and then cause harm and
trauma for generations
to come in our communities. It is a
simple ask. You don't have to be a
Republican. You don't have to be a
Democrat. You don't have to be political
at all. You don't even have to be a
parent. You don't have to love going to
the movies or watching concerts.
All you have to be is a human being who
loves the ability to live in the liberty
of knowing that no one has the capacity.
that no one has the capacity to take
your life in seconds with weapons that
they shouldn't have access to.
And I'm going to call on someone
who understands
the kind of damage
that these kind of weapons could cause
to a body
that also understands the trauma
that children and families have to live
with. This is Mark,
Dr. Mark Golder,
um, who used to be the former CEO of
Children's Hospital
and specializes in trauma.
Because in this moment, if America has
not woken up yet,
they need to hear the real realities
of what these damages look like.
In order for our hearts to continue to
be softened and for our minds to start
thinking about the solutions that we
know are accessible to us.
Thank you represent. Um my name is Dr.
Mark Orle. I'm a pediatric emergency
medicine physician and um I want to
start by acknowledging the grief of all
the children and families in Assumption
Church. Every single one of them was
assaulted and traumatized yesterday.
Everyone in that community
and I also want to acknowledge the folks
in the EMS system and at Henipin Health
and at Children's Minnesota who took
care of those patients because I know
from my 25 years of practicing pediatric
emergency medicine that when you have
seen a small body that been mutilated by
bullets. We do not easily or ever get
over that. And all the more so because
we all know it is entirely preventable.
Since 2020, when gun injury became the
leading cause of death for children in
the United States. Since then, we have
been saying that we are in a public
health crisis.
And we are.
But too often we are putting the
emphasis on the word crisis instead of
on the word health. This is a health
issue. This is not a criminal justice
issue or policing issue. This is not a
constitutional law issue. This is not a
moral issue. It is a health issue.
Children are being injured and killed.
They're being injured and killed by
bullets coming out of guns fired by
people in a social context. And a public
health issue requires a public health
approach.
Centuries of public health research and
experience tells us that we have to
address all of those factors. In this
case, starting with the lethality of the
gun and the bullet.
Now, the mechanics of this are pretty
simple. As Representative Omar said,
it's simple. More bullets fired more
force, more injury.
Fewer bullets fired with less force
cause less injury. It really is that
simple.
And it turns out the epidemiology and
the public policy is also quite simple.
There is extensive research showing that
in jurisdictions with stronger gun
safety laws and policies, including
limitations and bans on semi-automatic
weapons and high-capacity magazines,
that in those jurisdictions, there are
fewer people who die of gun injury.
Easy, right?
So, what we need is those actions. We
need those laws because those laws
will save people's lives. Period. Those
laws can and will save our children's
lives.
So,
need action at the state level as you've
heard. And so I would like to next
introduce State Senator Zed Muhammad.
Okay, they're asking me to get lower so
you can hear me speak louder. Okay,
great. Um, I want to thank everyone for
being here today, including so many of
my legislative colleagues. Um, and I
want to take the opportunity to call out
few of few of them who are not here
today, but have been extraordinary on
this issue. Um, and some who are with
us, including Senator Marty, um, Senator
Latz and Senator Gustoson. The list of
us who demand action on this issue is
large and growing every day. And because
we cannot go back uh in time, um the
moment to act is now. What happened at
Annunciation Catholic School yesterday
was an attack against our beautiful
South commun Southside community against
all people of faith and against
humanity. As we have been already as we
have said already and it must be
repeated, offering prayers for the
victims is not enough. These children in
the church were in the act of praying.
Some of us are privileged to be in a
position to not only pray for peace, but
to act on it and to create it. At the
legislative level, we have taken steps
to make our community safer like red
flag laws and enhanced background
checks. We have and will continue to
give law enforcement new tools. But the
monsters who commit these horrific
crimes and acts keep using the same
tools. The same weapons of war turn up
over and over at different shootings.
Highpowered, highcapacity rifles have
killed thousands of Americans over the
decades, and hundreds of children,
including the ones yesterday.
It makes me sick that our teachers and
kids know what to do in the event of an
attack. that they conduct drills to
react when the awful moment comes.
Parents have have practiced at
explaining um the unexplain the
unexplainable and consoling children who
have lost friends who are afraid to go
back to the classroom tomorrow. We can
act here in Minnesota so that
generations from now our children's
children won't fear and won't have to
worry about anything but books, math,
and maps. If the shooter had an
ideology, it was one of hatred, of
humanity.
They expressed admirations of mass
shooters who have targeted Jews and
Muslims and Christians and progressives
and children. This is not a part of any
community's ide any community's
identity. It is pure hate. The targets
who have the targets of gun violence are
too many to count.
Two months ago, it was our friends
Melissa Hortman and John Hoffman and
their families and dozens of other
legislators, including me.
On Monday, it was seven people on the
street in Minneapolis.
Yesterday, it was kids in church.
Who will it be tomorrow?
How will we explain to them we did
nothing to save them?
We cannot shield our children with our
eyes closed and hands behind our backs.
When Martin Luther King was murdered,
Bobby Kennedy quoted an ancient Greek
poet who said that pain falls that pain
that pain that pain that pain falls drop
by drop upon our heart and that in our
despair against our will through the
grace of God and it becomes wis wisdom.
Our community feels pain which we cannot
forget and we won't. We must find the
wisdom and the strength to act to save
each other and all future generations.
Next, I'd like to call up my partner in
the Senate District, Representative
Agreement.
Well, I first want to say I think on
behalf of Senator Muhammad, um
Councilwoman Kowski, we represent uh the
beautiful neighborhood that Annunciation
is part of. And thank you for um the
advocates, the colleagues, the community
members here who are here, not just from
Minneapolis, not just from the metro,
from around the state who understand
what is happening. Um, our community is
shaken and heartbroken,
losing two kids,
17 injured kids and parishioners, and a
whole community
who
this tragedy has reverberated out. I
found out about this from uh neighbors
who called and texted and who didn't
know was going on. They heard the
barrage of bullets. Nobody should have
to live through that. Nobody should lose
their kids or family members over that.
And communities shouldn't have to live
like this.
So for the last 24 hours, last day, we
have been wrapping our arms around the
community, around the families, around
Annuncius Church and everybody there.
And I just want you all to know how
important this community is. You know,
this is the place where popa go and um
give blood. It is where uh the very
Jewish side of me got a Christmas tree.
It is where Girl Scouts and sports
teams, it is our entire community. And
so when something like this happens, it
is not just South Minneapolis. It is
Richfield and in Bloomington, in the
whole metro. And we join in our grief.
Communities around the country that have
been here before
that have been shocked and wrecked and
have said this is unimaginable and now
it is imaginable because we keep letting
it happen.
Enough is enough. We cannot become numb
to this. We cannot become numb. We
cannot have people say there's nothing
else we can do. Red flag lights don't
work. Anything doesn't work. That is not
true.
And there is more we can do.
Today we are talking about a school and
a church. But we know across the country
it is a school and a church and a
concert and a grocery store and a movie
theater and just going to work.
Everyday people need to be safe doing
everyday things. That's right.
In Minnesota,
we have been working hard to get this
done. And we know that there's more to
do. And we need elected officials. We
need communities. We need everybody to
demand this because no longer can any
elected officials say we will not take
care of the guns that are killing our
kids. No longer.
And we know that this is not a uniquely
Minnesota issue. It is a national issue.
And as our congresswoman Omar said over
and over again and has said, we need a
national solution. So we are going to
get to work here in Minnesota. We have
been getting to work behind me. whether
it's Representative Frasier,
Representative Mhler, and many others
that my colleague Senator Muhammad
mentioned have been working night and
day, years after years, and we are going
to get it done. But what we know is
Washington has to solve this problem
with us.
So I just want to leave you with the
words that the principle of enunciation
said yesterday because I think it is
indicative of our path forward. He said
a proverb. He said when you pray move
your feet.
Move your feet. And we are here today.
We are here with community. We are here
with families and parents. We are here
with people across the state of
Minnesota and elected officials at all
level of government to move our feet
together. That's right.
>> And that means moving our feet to ban
assault weapons, to ban high-capacity
magazines, to improve and increase the
things we are doing to ensure that never
again do people have to feel unsafe, do
kids have to worry and shelter in place.
And we can and need to continue to say
never again because we need to make that
a reality together. And so please let me
introduce uh from Protect Minnesota,
Maggie Emmery, because
it is the families and the advocates on
the front lines that we do this work
with. Thank you.
>> Good afternoon. My name is Maggie Emery.
I'm the executive director of Protect
Minnesota, which is the only
state-based, statewide gun violence
prevention organization in our state.
I stand here today once again angry and
heartbroken.
In two and a half years in this job, I
have lost count of the number of times
that I've stood in front of a microphone
saying that I'm standing here angry and
heartbroken, and I am just sick of it.
Yet again, our children, our parents,
and our teachers, and our communities
have been forced to live through a
nightmare.
Guns are the number one cause of death
for children in this country. Let me say
that again. The number one cause of
death for children in this country, and
every single one is preventable.
How many more times do we have to gather
like this before we act? How many more
times do the people here with me today
have to stand up in front of news
microphones and say, "Please let this be
the last time before it's actually the
last time."
And the thing about it is we know what
fuels this crisis. assault weapons and
high-capacity magazines designed to kill
as many people as possible and sometimes
as many children as possible as quickly
as possible.
The data is clear.
When assault weapons are used, mass
shootings are far more deadly with six
times as many people shot and more than
two times as many killed.
Year after year, progress is stalled
while our communities and our children
pay the price.
This is a uniquely American phenomenon,
but Minnesota does not have to wait any
longer.
We have the power to lead the way and to
show that the lives of our children
matter than the gun lobby's money and
political cowardice.
Enough delay and enough excuses. It's
time to ban assault weapons and
high-capacity magazines and to finally
put our kids' right to simply grow up
ahead of everything else.
Brady was not able to be here today, but
they asked me to read a brief statement
of support um saying that Minnesota
should finally join states around the
nation that have said enough is enough
and pass an assault weapons ban and a
ban on large capacity magazines.
And finally, I'd like to introduce our
final speaker, our partner here in the
state of Minnesota and around the
country in ending gun violence, Mom's
Demand Action Executive Director Angela
Pharaoh Zabala.
Good afternoon.
I'll be honest, y'all. My heart is
racing, and I know many of yours are as
well. We're here
after yet another school shooting. Two
children are dead, 14 more children, and
three teachers were shot. As a parent, I
have to say what every parent feels at
this moment, which is the grief is
crushing and the anger is unrelenting.
This is unbearable.
This is unacceptable.
Yesterday, I got to come home. I got to
come home and tuck my kids into bed and
kiss their foreheads. This morning, I
had the privilege of watching them sleep
safely in their beds and kiss them one
more time before I came here. I got to
do that because my children came home
yesterday. Some of the children at
Annunciation Catholic School did not.
And for those kids who did make it home,
for the parents who did get the chance
to pull them close and hold them tight,
their lives are still forever changed.
Right now, some parents are carrying
unbearable grief. Some are carrying
unrelenting anger. And whatever you are
feeling, it's okay. If all you can do
today is find a quiet moment and hold
your children close because you still
can, honor that. If you feel called to
scream your anger into the streets,
honor that, too. If you need time to sit
in the grief before you can get loud,
take it. And when you're ready, that
will be the right moment for you to act.
But I do want to be clear, this wasn't
random.
This was the second mass shooting in
Minneapolis in as many days, two days.
Two mass shootings.
And yesterday, the shooter aimed an AR
style rifle built to kill as many
people, as many children as quickly as
possible through the windows of a church
and open fire.
We've said it before, but clearly we
need to say it again. Assault weapons
are weapons of war.
Period.
They are designed for the battleground.
They don't belong in our schools, in our
churches, in our communities. And yet
here we are again because politicians
would rather protect the gun lobby's
profits than protect our kids.
A 10-year-old boy had more courage
hiding in a church pew while his friend
shielded him with his body than I have
seen from far too many lawmakers, more
beholden to a gun lobby than a child. If
children can show that kind of bravery
under fire, why can't our lawmakers?
I'm going to say it again as it was said
before me. We need to ban assault
weapons. Period. We need to ban
highcapacity magazines that allow
shooters to fire more rounds without
reloading. Period. Here in Minnesota and
across the country,
no more excuses.
No more thoughts and prayers. Prayers
didn't save those children as gunfire
rang out while they were actually
praying.
action would have.
As a woman of deep faith and spirit,
there are two things that are resonating
deeply with me right now. And this is
coming from my Christian tradition.
The people who enter the kingdom of
heaven are not those who claim to know
God, but the one who does the will of my
father. Matthew 7:21.
And faith by itself, if it does not have
works, is dead. James 21:17.
Why? Why? Why are we leaving it to our
children, our children, to fight gunmen
armed with an assault rifle? Let me be
clear. This isn't some kind of
impossible ask. Assault weapons and our
children can't coexist.
And we have seen other states take the
mantle. Just this year alone, we saw
progress from states like Rhode Island
and Colorado. The majority of Americans,
Republicans, Democrats, gun owners,
veterans, people of deep faith. In fact,
people from all walks of life agree that
these weapons have no place in civilian
life.
The only ones standing in the way,
politicians who are too cowardly to act.
And I say to that, the lives of our
children are not for sale. Period. We
should not have to be standing here the
morning after another school shooting,
another school shooting, another school
shooting.
But here we are yet again standing in
front of you in grief and anger and
asking when will enough be enough? And
we will keep showing up and keep asking
that question until lawmakers finally
decide that the lives of children are
worth more than the profits of gun
manufacturers. We owe our kids more than
lockown drills and ducting to cover and
sh.
We owe them a future. And if lawmakers
won't act to ban assault weapons, to ban
highcapacity magazines, then voters will
elect new ones that will. Thank you very
much.
We're going to take about three or four
questions. I know it's uh we're running
a little over and then we can do some
poll aids after. So, please raise your
hand if you have a question and just we
ask that you direct your question to the
speaker instead of generally.
>> Go ahead.
>> My question is for state legislators. In
2024, when the DFL in control of the
legislature, you were unable to pass an
assault weapons ban that was proposed.