As we noted earlier, here in Minnesota, the DFL is trying to one-up Virginia's Democrats for the sheer pointless overreach of their attempts to jam down gun control laws.
In the closing days of the session, as the Legislature careens toward its statutory ending on Sunday night at midnight, the DFL introduced a sweeping platter of gun control proposals - the usual dog's breakfast of "assault weapon" and magazine bans, storage requirements, warrantless searches, and all the other measures that have gun rights plaintiff's lawyers already warming up the lawsuit printers.
The bill was double-doomed from the start - while it passed the Minnesota Senate on a straight party line vote, 34-33, it was doomed in the House (which is tied 67-67 and tie votes always lose), and the DFL knew it; no Minnesota Republican has betrayed the Second Amendment in a final vote in about 30 years. And even if any Republican had betrayed their voters, the Feds are exhibiting a new willingness to fight for the 2nd Amendment. And then there's the little matter of the Supreme Court's Bruen, McDonald, and Heller decisions, which have pretty well legally cemented the notion that government doesn't get to ban commonly owned firearms and the things needed to use them.
So if it all seems like an exercise to whip up low-information swing voters - the high-schooling/low education crowd that makes up so much of Minnesota's mushy suburban middle - you're right. That's exactly what it was. Oh, they wrapped themselves in piety, trotting out parents and classmates of the victims at last summer's shooting at Annunciation school...
...who can not have been happy that a DFL Senator from a pro-gun district admitted exactly as much in a response to a constituent:
Grant Hauschild votes for a Tim Walz gun grab. Then he tells his Iron Range constituents, "I only did it because I know Lisa Demuth and House GOP are gonna slap it down." pic.twitter.com/5cK7zpCSaI
— MN Up North Lake Guy (@MNUpNorthLakeG1) May 12, 2026
The GOP - who control the Speaker's seat, after the DFL staged a pointless sit-out of the first several weeks of last year's session - made it clear the bill was going to get shot down like a clay pigeon. Because elections have consequences.
To which the DFL, who were to a person demanding "respect for due process" for illegal immigrants five months ago, decided to stage an insurrection against the due legislative process by holding a sit-in to demand a vote:
Democratic state representatives in Minnesota staged an overnight sit-in in their house chamber on Thursday after the Republican speaker failed to put a gun violence prevention bill up for a vote.
Samantha Sencer-Mura, a Democratic representative from Minneapolis, first announced the plan on Wednesday from the floor of the state’s house of representatives, giving the speaker, Lisa Demuth, a candidate for governor, 24 hours to give the bill a vote before the sit-in would start.
The sit-in began around 9pm local time. Lawmakers intend to stay until the house comes back in session, which is set for Saturday at noon.
The Minnesota senate, controlled by Democrats, narrowly passed the gun violence prevention omnibus earlier this month. The house, where there is a 67-67 vote tie and a Republican speaker in charge, has so far not taken up the bill.
A vote which - let me reiterate - they are 100% guaranteed to lose, given that the House is tied, and that will lose in court in the likely-as-my-next-date-with-Anna-Kendrick event that it passes, and that will draw a DOJ lawsuit that serves as a palate-cleanser for any other litigation as the bill goes to inevitable defeat in Federal court.
Now, as the old law-school adage says, "when the facts are against you, argue law; when the law is against you, argue like facts; when the facts and the law area gainst you, argue like hell".
I'm not sure if it's the adage playing out in real life, or just the DFL getting frustrated - but either way, that brings us to the next stage in the progression.
As the GOP held the line on Thursday, DFL representative Aisha Gomez got a little...tense? Anyway, here was her exchange with GOP Representative Elliot Engen:
Gomez appears to be urging Rep. Engen to "go _____ shoot yourself".
But don't you dare claim today's Democrats are unhinged and support violence.
