Latest mass shooting once again bringing gun law reform to the forefront

After the Annunciation Church shooting, barely over a year prior to this past week's shooting, parents pressured lawmakers to vote on new restrictions on guns. In the end, the DFL-controlled Senate passed a sweeping package of gun control measures, including a ban on assault-style weapons which were used in the Annunciation shooting.

But no vote was taken on the floor, which was under the leadership of Republican Speaker and now gubernatorial candidate Lisa Demuth.

It was a ban of the sale of assault weapons and large capacity magazines which Republicans opposed.

The apartment shooting, carried out by Carlton Johnson, a disgruntled resident facing eviction, was different. Law enforcement investigators say he was licensed to carry a handgun, which they say was what he used to shoot and kill two residents of the Shoreline Plaza apartment. He also shot and injured several others, including two Minneapolis Police officers. Both of them expected to recover.

But the situation with Johnson gets more complicated because of both criminal history, and a history of incidents that led to his eviction.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty confirmed Thursday that Johnson was investigated in June after displaying a handgun and reportedly making threats. But he wasn’t charged. It's a case study in Red Flag Laws and Extreme Risk Order Protection.

Johnson was arrested and charges were given to the Hennepin County Attorney's office, but Moriarty says there was not enough evidence to continue.

"When they followed up, they asked the individual, 'well, what did you mean by brandishing a gun?' And he explained, well, he didn't really brandish it, he showed it to me in his waistband,'" explains Moriarty.

What could have helped? Should there have been stronger Red Flag laws? Should management or residents of the building done more to prevent this from happening? All legitimate questions investigators and lawmakers will need to tackle going forward.

But, there are political implications in the race for governor as well, as University of Minnesota political science professor Larry Jacobs explains.

"So now we've got this shooting in Minneapolis, and the question's going to be, should there have been a vote? Should Minnesota lawmakers be moving forward with gun control," asked Jacobs.

He says it puts Demuth in a difficult position within her own party, firmly against any measures restricting gun sales. And her campaign funded in part by the gun lobby.

"On the other hand, if she seems callous and is totally against gun control after this most recent use of guns to commit murder, she may well lose some of the independent votes," Jacobs adds. "In the case of gun control, there is a very strong lobby within the Republican Party opposing gun control, and Lisa Demuth appears to be getting money from some of those gun rights groups. So she's in a real pickle here."

WCCO political analyst Blois Olson says it's important to delineate between Annunciation and this latest incident.

"Gun advocates who want to restrict guns are lumping it all together, and I think that the public differentiates between these two incidents," Olson said on the WCCO Morning News. "I think the mechanics of the court system, I think previous records, I think all of those things tie into this."

Olson says when it comes to voters, there is a clear difference between crime and public safety.

"Public safety is showing up in polls as a top three issue this year, but crime is not," says Olson. "And I think how people deal with crime, our government, or how people feel about public safety is a mixed bag. But I do think how it will play in the Hennepin County Attorney's race, it may play in the Attorney general's race, but I think all the races statewide will address this in some way, shape or form as a kind of a timely topic. But, I don't think you can kind of just circle this all up and figure out what the public's gonna think about it."

Last May, Demuth insisted the bill needed to go through the standard committee process and lacked bipartisan support in the evenly divided 67-67 House chamber. Democrats accused House Speaker Lisa Demuth of holding the bill hostage.

"When we look at the fact that I had said early on that as bills are introduced, they will go through the committee process and I've held tight to that promise," Demuth responded to the no vote on the WCCO Morning News with Vineeta Sawkar. "Those bills did not continue going through the committee process because they fell on a on a party-line vote."

But in April, Demuth did lay out what Republicans wanted to move through the House. None of it made it through the tied House. Demuth told Sawkar that there was no "pathway forward for gun bans," despite the emotional pleas following Annunciation.

"What the Democrats have brought forward in pushing for gun bans is something that, they had full control of state government back in '23 and '24," she said. "They were not even allowed to bring up those bills because they knew they didn't have the support. So there's not the support in the Democrat Party. What I will say though is, we have a plan and we've been bringing this forward since September when the governor was going to call us into a special session. He didn't, but we were ready to go. Extra security dollars for schools to use however they see best fit, whether it's for their building or social workers, additional mental health supports and then additional criminal penalties for any type of crime committed with a firearm. Those are the things that we'd like to move through as a starting point, but they've been blocked at this point."

Demuth's opponent in the governor's race, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, has taken a clear stance on gun reform. Following last year's shooting at Annunciation and after the assassination of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, clarified views.

"I have long supported efforts to promote gun safety including improving coordination between federal law enforcement and their state and local partners," Klobuchar said. "We should pass common-sense gun safety legislation regarding convicted stalkers, ban assault weapons, improve background checks, and close the loophole that allows suspected terrorists to buy firearms."

Olson also added voters might be passionate about the issue of guns, but rarely make it a focus of who they're voting for in elections.

"They are very passionate, they are very loud, and in general, the public is on their side," Olson says about gun reform advocates. "However, people do not vote on those issues. They vote on the economy, they vote on their jobs, this year they're voting on fraud, they're voting on ICE. And so, it can be really popular, but that doesn't mean that it has the traction or the momentum at the polling place."

Moriarty added that this latest shooting is evidence of needed change.

"I think that any time something like this happens, and unfortunately our community has seen far too much of this, people ask what could have been done differently. And that's a legitimate question," said Moriarty, speaking to WCCO's Susie Jones on Thursday.

Note: WCCO Radio did reach out to Demuth's campaign for comment on this story, but never heard back.