With rising crime across Minnesota, Senator Paul Gazelka (R-East Gull Lake) presented legislation today to enforce mandatory minimums for criminals who commit crimes with firearms or other dangerous weapons.

“Minnesota is in the midst of an alarming rise of violent crime across our state, and, unfortunately, our law-abiding citizens and communities are suffering as a result,” Sen. Gazelka said. “Prosecutors and judges have the tools to put these criminals away, but they aren’t taking these crimes seriously, and they’re letting criminals walk. As a result, people are getting hurt by people who should be locked up. That’s simply not right. Now, it’s on us to intervene and stand up for the innocent people of Minnesota by showing criminals how serious we take their crimes.”

In 2020, the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission reported that the fastest growing crime in Minnesota between 2010 and 2018 was possession of a firearm by a convicted felon who committed a crime of violence.

Despite having a mandatory minimum sentence available to prosecutors and judges, the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission reported in 2020 that between 2013-2018, judges and prosecutors refused to sentence the mandatory minimum in felony firearm cases 40% of the time across the state.