After the tragic shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis last year, it is understandable to have passion and righteous anger in the political sphere. At the same time, we must remain prudent and non-ideological, ensuring this passion does not morph into partisan politics or one-size-fits-all policy solutions. Senseless gun violence is a complex issue with multiple factors at play.
New research from the Violence Prevention Project Research Center at Hamline University in St. Paul presented to legislators this year made something clear: Multiple elements are needed to protect children from mass shootings in schools, and focusing only on one’s preferred approach — whether it be gun safety measures, looking at building security, or addressing mental health — is insufficient on its own to prevent more of these tragedies.
It is for this reason, as well as a keen understanding of the limits of politics this year, that the Church proposed a three-part Protect Kids Package at the beginning of the session. Designed to transcend the partisan divide, this package includes banning high-capacity ammunition magazines, expanding school safety funding for all students, and limiting Big Tech’s ability to target children with addictive social media algorithms.
As the legislative session nears an end on May 18, all three pieces of legislation are in the middle of negotiations and have a chance to reach the finish line:
Ban high-capacity ammunition magazines
Bills HF3402 and SF3714 would ban high-capacity ammunition magazines, devices capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition and designed for rapid firing without reloading. Statistics from Everytown Research show that in mass shootings with four or more people killed between 2015 and 2022, high-capacity magazines led to more than twice as many people killed, and nearly 10 times as many people wounded per incident on average.
Removing high-capacity ammunition magazines won’t solve the problem alone, but it’s a reasonable gun safety measure backed by evidence to ensure fewer fatalities in mass shootings.
Expand safe schools funding to include all students
Bills HF3493 and SF5111 would expand school safety funding to include private, charter and tribal schools. Public schools already receive this funding, and it should be extended to all students, regardless of which school they attend. The funding can be used for school safety improvements, school resource officers, and mental health support for students. This would undoubtedly help harden schools and provide resources to address security blind spots. When one school is vulnerable, all schools are vulnerable. Parents, students, educators and volunteers deserve a clear commitment from the state of Minnesota as a matter of public safety to invest in protecting every child.
Prioritize children over Big Tech algorithms
Children are spending excessive time on social media and it’s affecting their developing brains. The Stop Harms of Addictive Social Media legislation (HF4138 and SF4696) would put parents back in the driver’s seat in two simple but important ways.
First, it would require children under 16 to obtain parental consent before creating social media accounts.
Second, if the parent chooses to let their child sign up, it would prohibit the most addictive features Big Tech uses to glue children to their platforms, such as targeted advertising, autoplay videos and infinite scroll. This could result in less time on screens and more time playing with friends, studying and getting adequate sleep. It could also mean happier children who are less anxious, less worried and more focused on the present moment.
The time to act is now
What’s needed now is for leaders to come together in this moment and protect children in a way that speaks to the urgency of the issue and the evidence. Statesmanship is approaching the work of public policy with wisdom, and it is needed following the Annunciation tragedy.
Fortunately, there is still time this year to act.
We remain hopeful that enough legislators are statesmen and women who will transcend the false binaries of our politics and push back on both gun absolutism and those school leaders who put systems ahead of students. All children deserve nothing less.
Please urge your legislators to support these pieces of legislation by visiting our action alert page at mncatholic.org/protectourkids, and be sure to join the Catholic Advocacy Network to be keep abreast of all important updates at the Capitol.
Inside the Capitol is a legislative update from Minnesota Catholic Conference staff.
