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Urdahl




Dear Neighbor,

It?s been a rather busy week in the House, with daily floor sessions lasting until midnight as bills are presented for debate and votes leading up to our May 20 deadline to adjourn.

Before we get to issues, I would like to note that it was an honor to pinch-hit as Speaker of the House to start Monday's floor session at the Capitol. Click here [ [link removed] ] for the highlights, including a nod to my Norwegian heritage at the end.

In other news:

*Capital Investment*

In my role as House Republican Lead on the House Capital Investment Committee, I continue working to prepare a bill to fund construction projects for essential infrastructure work around out state. Negotiations are starting to pick up on this subject and we will see how things shake out between now and when the Legislature adjourns. Stay tuned.

*Anti-Second Amendment bills*

House Democrats approved three anti-gun bills this week which will do more to make criminals out of law-abiding citizens than crack down on violent criminals.

The three bills include new laws on storage, requirements for reporting stolen firearms, and a new ?trigger activator? definition that may render some commonly used guns illegal. These latest proposals follow last year?s changes Democrats enacted regarding universal background checks and red flag confiscation orders.

The problem with these bills is they will have very negligible impacts in terms of cracking down on the real bad actors who are committing violent crimes. In fact, these bills could do more to endanger law-abiding gun owners by placing unnecessary restrictions on them that make it harder to defend themselves.

A better approach would be for our state to step up efforts to enforce existing laws, with prosecutors who are willing to fully charge violent criminals and courts that stop turning dangerous people back out on the street with a slap on the wrist.

The bill to stiffen penalties on straw purchasers borrows language authored by House Republicans and that?s something I support. Unfortunately, there also is unrelated language in that bill that is controversial and undermined bipartisan support.?

After passing the House mainly along party lines, the three bills are now in the hands of the Senate, where Democrats have a one-seat majority. That means a senator who currently faces first-degree felony burglary charges could cast deciding votes on bills undermining people?s ability to defend themselves during a home invasion.

The bills House Democrats approved this week include:


* H.F. 4300: Requires a person to store a firearm that is not in the person?s direct control or within reach in a gun safe, gun room, or unloaded with a locking device. There are criminal penalties for failing to comply with the firearm storage requirements.
* H.F. 601: Requires firearm owners to report the loss or theft of a firearm to the local law enforcement agency within 48 hours of its loss and creates a penalty if a person does not report the loss within that timeframe.
* H.F. 2609: Includes bipartisan language House Republicans propose to increase penalties on straw buyers of firearms, but also features a controversial provision regarding the definition of a ?trigger activator? that may impact some commonly used guns and render them illegal.

Have a good weekend and please stay in touch.

Sincerely,

Dean






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State Rep. Dean Urdahl
279 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
St. Paul, MN 55155
[email protected]
(651) 296-4344







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