HF2449 SF1596 is awaiting committee assignment.
Essays
Essay
On August 27th, 2025 the lives of 8 year old Fletcher Merkel, and 10 year old Harper Moyski were taken by a 5.56 AR- 15-style semi-automatic rifle. 116 rounds were shot from that gun. The flag of the United States of America was flown at half mast for 5 days. Thousands of people attended vigils in the weeks following the shooting that will forever affect Annunciation Catholic Church and School. Our streets and our country mourned what were just more innocent lives taken in our growing state of submission to gun violence. Bill HF2449, calls to prohibit the sale or transfer of semiautomatic military-style assault weapons, and instate a buyback program for these assault weapons. By voting to pass Bill HF2449, the reality of aggressive weaponry defining our American streets could be limited. The end to the circulation of these assault weapons could not only expand the safety of our state, but save the lives of our future children.
On September 13th 1994 president Bill Clinton passed the “Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act” a life saving bill that banned the civilian use of assault weapons across the nation. A 2019 DiMaggio study looked at mass shooting data from 1981 to 2017 and found that mass-shooting fatalities were 70% less likely to occur during the federal ban period. The act expired 10 years later in 2004, and the mass shooting rate of our country increased once again. According to Everytown, an organization founded partially by moms after the Sandy Hook shooting, it's estimated that if the law remained in effect through 2019, it would have prevented 30 mass shootings that killed 339 people and injured 1,139 more. 10 states have adopted an assault weapon ban in their own governments, such as California, Illinois, and New York. Adding Minnesota to this list by passing Bill HF2449 would not only possibly save lives, but solidify our undeniable future as a democratic state in our current country.
Did you know assault weapons are referred to as “uniquely lethal”? Between 2015 and 2022, mass shootings where assault weapons were present wounded 23 times as many people per incident on average. Their rapid rate of fire and high muzzle velocity come off as appealing for fast, and efficient violence. Some large capacity magazines can hold over 100 rounds of ammunition. Brady United, an American non-profit that advocates against gun violence claims 155% more people are shot at incidents where these large capacity magazines were present. In 2023, 18% of mass shootings involved an assault weapon. Yet, those mass shootings counted for 28% of all firearm-related deaths when over 58% of all deaths comes from firearm suicides. Why do we keep these violent guns on our streets and accessible to civilians who may have the wrong intentions? When the United States lies at the forefront of gun death rates, making steps such as passing Bill 2449 and other gun control legislation could put a new stone in our neverending path to end gun violence.
I fear that one day my little cousin won’t come home from school. I fear that loud bang that just echoed through my school’s hallways wasn’t a door slamming. The conservatives of our country fear their guns will be taken away. They fear this because of their own anxieties about the safety of their families, their right to hunt, and the safety of their own life. Bill HF2449 is not trying to dismantle those rights of gun-bearing Americans. We must ask ourselves, why would anybody need a high capacity assault rifle? When these guns are often the weapon of choice for mass shooters, taking these unusually lethal guns off our streets finds itself to be a necessary action for prevention. Handguns for the purpose of home defense and others will be respected. Other lower capacity rifles used for hunting will be respected However, access to other high capacity magazine weapons has proven itself to be a tragically consistent factor in mass shootings. When facing fear about guns being taken away- we must turn to the fear of our children dying; this fear being current and occurring in our own Minnesota cities. By voting to pass Bill HF2449, we can participate in societal confrontation and action towards these lethal weapons, and that fear in us all can grow a little quieter.
30 others were wounded in the shooting of Annunciation Catholic Church and School. That very 5.56 AR- 15-style semi-automatic rifle that took the lives of Fletcher Merkel and Harper Moyski would be inaccessible to a civilian in our state with the passing of Bill HF2449. When we look at the state of our country, 374 shootings that consisted of four or more victims have already taken place in 2025. That's more than one shooting each day. The ban and buyback program of military assault weapons has been seen as successful before. We have a chance to take these uniquely violent guns off our streets. Face our fears and take action by supporting Bill HF2449. Vote to pass Bill HF2449 for the security of our American lives. Vote to pass Bill HF2449 for that fearful voice in your head every time you step into a school. Vote to pass Bill HF2449 so Minnesota can join the 10 states that are working to make the United States a safer nation, where the lives of our citizens are not tested every day they step outside.