New legislation boosts Minnesota’s standing in gun safety rankings
On the heels of a legislative session that included several new firearm bills, Minnesota improved its rankings on two major state-level rankings of gun safety.
The Giffords Law Center’s annual Gun Law Scorecard rated Minnesota a solid B, up from a C+ the prior year. Explaining the better grade, Giffords cited the state’s new Extreme Risk Protection Order, which allows authorities to temporarily remove guns from people that the courts deem to be a danger to themselves or others.
The organization also cited new expanded background checks and heavy investments in community violence prevention. Overall, Minnesota’s rank improved from 18th to 15th in the nation on Giffords’ scale.
Everytown for Gun Safety similarly moved Minnesota up three spots, from 17th to 14th, citing the same legislation. Generally speaking, states with tighter gun control laws see fewer homicide and suicide deaths caused by firearms, along with lower rates of gun injury.
“In two short years, we were able to elect a gun-sense trifecta in our state and pass historic gun safety legislation,” said Katie Walloch, a volunteer with the Minnesota chapter of Moms Demand Action, an Everytown-affiliated group, in a statement.
'Nuff Said.
