One Minnesota Senate Republican is accusing DFL senators of playing political games that would make the straw purchase of a gun a felony under Minnesota law. Currently the crime is a misdemeanor in Minnesota.
One week ago, a Burnsville woman was been indicted for the straw purchase of multiple firearms used in the killing of three Burnsville, Minnesota first responders.
"The reason being, is that what we're hearing from prosecutors is it's just not worth prosecuting at that point," says Senator Julia Coleman (R-Waconia) who authored the original bill. "When it's a felony, they've got the time and the resources necessary, and the manpower to take on a case like that."
Coleman made a motion on the Senate floor Thursday to move her bill from committee to a future floor vote. The bill earlier passed the Senate Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support, and has been sitting in Finance Committee since last March.
The floor motion failed Thursday, with just one Democrat joining Republicans to move the bill forward.
Speaking to WCCO's Jason DeRusha Thursday afternoon, Coleman said she's very disappointed to see Democrats hold up important legislation just to "get credit." She says this is simply an abuse of power.
"I've been here four years, and this is the most egregious use of power, the most egregious example of partisan politics I've ever seen," says Coleman. "It's hard to be here today and to watch what they're doing. If the roles were reversed I would never treat anyone like this. Minnesotans deserve better."
Rep. Kaela Berg (DFL-Burnsville) introduced a measure to make straw purchasing a felony with an aggravating factor that would make the maximum penalty five years in prison.
Coleman says they're simply cloning the same bill she proposed a year ago. She says they told her since Democrats have control of the senate, they deserve control of the committee and the bill. Coleman has said she's been asked to support their version which she told DeRusha she would be willing to do if only to get the law on the books.
The DFL has that this is not an uncommon practice with bills. Coleman says it is very unusual to clone a bill that has already come out of committee.
"Why kick the can down the road when we can, why wait for another tragedy, when we can do this right here, today," says Coleman. "It seems like an unnecessary question when we could make it irrelevant by doing this right now."