I recently sent a couple of emails to the office of my local state representative Fue Lee- and to my surprise got an invitation to spend fifteen minutes meeting with him today. I wish I'd had more time, but here's what we covered:
1. Lee's primary agenda and the issue that he receives the most support from his constituents in North Minneapolis is doing something about the violent crime endemic there. Lee's solution is gun control, most recently his support for the Democrat's two latest House bills, background checks and red flag laws. Lee said that these were "just the beginning".
2. Lee said that as a gun-owning hunter he didn't feel these measures infringed on his rights (it would have been impolite for me to use the word "Fudd").
3. Lee acknowledged that background checks aren't going to stop the illegal street trade in guns but said that those guns "come from somewhere". He said that laws making it illegal to sell to ineligible people aren't effective because individuals don't know if a stranger is ineligible or not.
4. On Red Flag laws, Lee said that the proposed law has been revised so only police and prosecutors can petition for a removal. I asked if the removal will still be ex parte= without prior notice to the gun owner- and he said he'd have to get back to me on that one.
5. On several points of rebuttal I offered, he said that he would "respectfully have to agree to disagree".
6. He said that Red Flag laws "work in many states around the country".
He was polite and respectful. I don't know if our meeting amounted to more than spitting on a forest fire, but he at least heard from one gun owner in his district.