Rochester hosts gun violence prevention town hall amid ongoing debate

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) — With a special session seemingly nowhere on the horizon, the Walz administration and the DFL party are putting on a series of gun violence prevention town halls.

In a town hall held on Friday in Rochester, its panel included:

• Gwen Walz - Minnesota First Lady
• Dr. Robert Hyde - Mayo Clinic Emergency Physician
• Maggiy Emery - Survivor/Moderator
• Simon Glaser - John Marshall Educator
• Jane Peterson - Mayo Clinic Nurse Anesthetist

The panel answered pre-screened questions from the more than 125 constituents in attendance.

First Lady Gwen Walz called for a statewide vote to ban assault weapons.

“We are in a bind because we have the Speaker of the House who says on record and publicly that she will not bring it up for a vote,” Walz said.

The town hall also featured comments from DFL Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, Rep. Tina Liebling (DFL-Rochester), and Rep. Kim Hicks (DFL-Rochester).

“[Republicans] want to talk about ending gun violence by focusing on mental health and school safety, but they don’t want to talk about the weapons of war and the carnage that they create,” Murphy stated.

“We do not have more mental health problems than other countries. What we have is more guns,” Liebling said.

Greg Kemple of Rochester, a member of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, said mental health is the real issue behind gun violence.

“If one has got evil in their heart, you’re not going to stop them from doing it. A lot of these shootings have been legal purchases,” Kemple said.

Kemple said an assault weapon ban would not be effective and would violate Second Amendment rights.

“You can legislate till the cows come home, and it’s still not going to make our streets safer,” he said.

He said the Second Amendment protects the First Amendment and guns are not inherently dangerous.

“The only time a gun will do such a horrific scene like it does is when someone with evil in their heart picks one up,” Kemple said.

The Rochester event was part of a series of gun violence prevention town halls scheduled across the state. The next event will take place Nov. 10 in Stillwater, MN.

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