ST. PAUL, MN – “We are all aware of the drastic increase in violent crime across our state and unfortunately, much of the violence includes criminal use of a firearm,” said Senator Warren Limmer (R-Maple Grove).  “However, criminal sentences imposed by judges must get tougher to those who use a gun in the commission of a crime.”

“This bill is a reaction to a recent report by the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission (MSGC) that found between 2013 and 2019, judges and prosecutors chose to NOT sentence minimum prison sentences in felony firearm cases 40% of the time”, said Limmer. “This is frightening! We must make hard consequences for those that use a firearm in commission of a crime. This behavior must not be tolerated in Minnesota. If convicted, judges must impose a prison sentence.”

In 2020, the MSGC reported the fastest growing crime in the state between 2010 and 2018 was possession of a firearm by a convicted felon who committed a crime of violence, who already would be ineligible to have a firearm.

Accordioning to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s 2020 Uniform Crime Report, Minnesota recorded a 16.6% increase in violent crimes in 2020. Most notably, there were 185 murders in 2020 in Minnesota compared to 117 in 2019, an increase of 58.1%. And of the murders in 2020, 75% were committed with a firearm, up from 69% in 2019.

Limmer’s bill, S.F. 2673, would change the recommended sentences to a hard mandatory sentence that would be required for judges to impose if a defendant uses a firearm in the commission of a crime.