Minnesota Gubernatorial Candidate Calls For Assault Weapon Ban, Universal Background Checks

Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus: "DFL-endorsed Governor candidate Erin Murphy, an anti-gun State Representative who is proud of her “F” rating from the NRA and the Caucus. She’s been hostile to gun owners from her very first term."

by Tom Knighton: Rep. Erin Murphy wants to be Minnesota’s next governor. To reach that goal, she thinks that curtailing the rights of law-abiding Americans is a winner.

In particular, Murphy wants to follow the typical anti-gun playbook.
Representative Erin Murphy says it’s time to study gun violence like a public health crisis.

On Thursday, she announced the steps she would take to curb gun violence if she’s elected Minnesota’s next governor.

It includes universal background checks on all gun sales. And banning the sale of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. The DFL-endorsed candidate says Minnesotans support common sense solutions.

“And frankly they are frustrated that their powerful voices are being ignored by a kind of politics inside that Capitol building that is more interested in protecting their status quo interests. More interested in the appeasing and doing the bidding of the NRA for advancing solutions that will protect our kids in school and protest people by the violence of suicide by gun,” Murphy said.Murphy’s not alone in wanting universal background checks and a so-called “assault weapon” ban by any stretch.

However, all of these are predicated on fear and emotion rather than any real understanding of the issues when it comes to violence and crime.

For one thing, “assault rifles” aren’t used in crimes that often. The FBI has found rifles–a general term that includes firearms ranging from AR-15s to single-shot long guns–are only used in a few hundred crimes nationally each year. While they’ve been used in several high profile crimes such as Las Vegas and Parkland, they’re not the only weapon chosen by such killers.

Instead, they’re used by sportsmen, competition shooters, and armed citizens to defend their homes and families. By banning such weapons as Murphy says she intends to do, she won’t be making anyone safer. Instead, she’ll make it more difficult for the law-abiding citizen to have an effective tool of self-defense.

As for universal background checks, proponents have yet to illustrate some significant problem with criminals purchasing firearms through face-to-face transfers in what would otherwise be legal sales. With my coverage of guns over the last year or so, what I tend to see is that criminals either make straw purchases from gun stores–something that wouldn’t end with universal background checks–or they obtain stolen weapons by either stealing them themselves or via the black market.

I’m pretty damn sure that criminals won’t be taking their black market guns to an FFL for a background check. Let’s call it a hunch.

Murphy and those like her are slinging around policy ideas that sound good to anti-gunners yet accomplish nothing. The reality is that no one is made safer by any of these ideas, and the people of Minnesota would do well to reject any and all candidate who claim they will. These aren’t serious people. These are candidates who spew what sounds good to their tribe rather than try and figure out a real solution to whatever the problem is.

If Murphy and candidates like her get their way, watch how nothing will happen because of it. These laws are ineffective, unconstitutional, and outright stupid.

Voters need to reject these candidates so we can get people with real solutions.
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Tom Knighton is a Navy veteran, a former newspaperman, a novelist, and a blogger at Bearing Arms. He lives with his family in Southwest Georgia.

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Tags: Tom Knighton, Bearing Arms, Anti-Gun Candidates, Assault Weapon Bans, Erin Murphy, Minnesota, Universal Background Checks To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!