Lawmakers grapple with potential public policy responses after church shooting during school Mass

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — After the deadly Aug. 27 mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis during a liturgy marking the start of the school year, lawmakers are weighing what — if any — legislative response may follow.

Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., told reporters Sept. 2 he would call a special session at the State Capitol for gun legislation. But it was not yet clear what avenue lawmakers may consider in a narrowly-divided Legislature.

“The thing that makes America unique in terms of shootings is we just have more guns and the wrong types of guns are on the streets,” Walz said. “I’m calling… legislators to try and make sure they get there.”

Walz, who was his party’s nominee for vice president in 2024, said he can only call the session, but the outcome would be up to the legislature.

“To be very candid, just in a very evenly divided (Legislature), I’m going to need some Republicans to break with the orthodoxy and say we need to do something about guns,” he said. “Once they do that, we’ll call that and bring them back. If Minnesota lets this moment slide and we determine it’s OK for little ones to not be safe in a school or church environment, then shame on us. So I’m going to call them back and ask them to do that.”

In response, Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, a Republican, replied in a statement that “the facts are clear: If he decides to call a special session, anything that we do needs to have bipartisan support.”

“The House proved that we can work in a bipartisan fashion last session, and that cooperation needs to continue,” Demuth said. “If Governor Walz and Democrats are focused on partisan accusations and demands, this special session will not be productive for the people of Minnesota.”

Some mayors in Minnesota have asked the Legislature to change a state law that prohibits cities from enacting their own gun restrictions.

In response to a question on whether he would be willing to send National Guard members to schools at the White House Sept. 2 after announcing the relocation of the U.S. Space Command, Trump said, “Well, we have a big problem with school shootings, but we also have thousands and thousands of schools that run perfectly.”

Trump suggested “you can do things construction-wise” to increase school safety such as ensuring schools have “safety doors.” He repeated a previous proposal that “a small percentage” of teachers with pertinent law enforcement or military experience could be trained to carry firearms but said that proposal would “have to be studied.”

“But we do have, there’s something going on, something going on, and it’s, it’s a bad thing,” Trump said.

In the wake of the shooting — where authorities said the suspected gunman, Robin (formerly known as Robert) Westman, killed Fletcher Merkel, 8, and Harper Moyski, 10, and wounded 21 others before taking his own life — some lawmakers also called for federal legislation in response.

“An act of unspeakable gun violence that stole two precious children, just 8 and 10 years old, from their families and injured so many more at a Minneapolis school demands that we take action,” House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., wrote on X the day of the shooting.

“We cannot allow children to live in fear of learning, worshiping or simply being kids. Gun violence is an epidemic in America, and we must do everything in our power to end it,” Pelosi, who is Catholic, added.

Vice President JD Vance, also Catholic, visited Minneapolis Sept. 3 with his wife, Usha Vance, to pay respects to the victims.

The Vances were met by some protesters at the corner near the church, according to the vice president’s travel pool, before they laid flowers at a memorial for the victims.

Some of the signs held by protesters included: “Listen to the Pope, End the Pandemic of Arms.”

In the aftermath of the shooting, Pope Leo XIV expressed condolences for the victims and also prayed for an end to the “pandemic” of gun violence.

Vance told reporters on the tarmac that he is not an expert in Minnesota law and “I’m not going to tell the Minnesota lawmakers or the governor exactly how they should respond to this tragedy.”

“Obviously, there’s a strong desire from across the political spectrum to do something so that these shootings are less common,” Vance said. “I think that it’s important that they actually take steps that are favorable, that are going to work. But besides that, I’m not an expert in Minnesota law. I won’t pretend to be. I would just say, take the concerns of these parents seriously. I think all of us, Democrat, Republican and independent, want these school shootings to happen less frequently. Hopefully, there’s some steps that we can take to make that happen.”

Vance also said, “We should talk more about these kids. We should talk less about the shooter.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has long called for a total ban on assault weapons, a term that commonly refers to military-style semi-automatic rifles, shotguns and pistols fed by ammunition magazines of various capacities.

In response to a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in 2022, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers, Congress passed a modest gun safety bill — the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act — that expanded the background check system for prospective gun buyers under 21 years old, closed a provision known as the “boyfriend loophole,” banning convicted domestic abusers from purchasing firearms regardless of their marital status, and funded new investments in mental health resources.

The USCCB supported that legislation.

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