A DFL senator who often is under the microscope as a potential swing voter in his Iron Range district has confirmed he will be a “no” vote on the safe storage bill that passed in the state House last week.
Sen. Grant Hauschild, of Hermantown, posted to social media on Thursday afternoon his intention to vote no on HF4300 when it comes before the Senate. Democrats hold a 34-33 advantage in the Senate.
“Since being elected to the State Senate, I have been clear in my opposition to a Gun Storage Law,” Hauschild wrote on his X account. “That has not changed. In Northern Minnesota, we are responsible gun owners & do not need an unenforceable law to tell us how to keep ourselves safe or how to handle our guns.”
That announcement came after other users on the social media platform (formerly known as Twitter) began circulating screenshots of an email that Hauschild’s legislative assistant had sent to constituents in recent days asking about his stance on the legislation.
“… I will also note for you that Senator Hauschild is not planning to support the safe storage bill this year so it is unlikely to become law,” wrote Jamie Hysjulien, a Senate staffer for Hauschild, in a correspondence with a constituent published on social media on Thursday morning.
The news that Hauschild will vote ‘no’ on the safe storage bill comes at a time when many inside and outside the legislature continue to debate whether Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury, should be allowed to vote in the Senate while she awaits trial for a felony burglary charge. Mitchell is not one of the four DFL co-authors of the bill expected to be taken up on the floor in the coming days, but she is a co-author of a similar safe storage bill introduced in March.
Several gun rights lobbyists and advocates have called for Mitchell to resign in light of the irony that she is likely to support a safe storage bill at the same time she is accused of breaking into her stepmother’s house in the middle of the night.
The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, which has called for Mitchell’s resignation or expulsion from the Senate, celebrated the news that her vote is no longer likely to be a deciding factor on the safe storage bill.
“Nothing is for sure until the session adjourns sine die on May 20th,” the organization wrote in a social media post Thursday afternoon, “but with Senator Hauschild saying he won’t support a safe storage ban — our two-year effort to STOP this bill may have borne fruit. KEEP UP THE PRESSURE.”
On Monday, the Senate Rules Committee, chaired by Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, voted to substitute its safe storage legislation with the version that passed the House last week.
Under the proposed law, gun owners must either store their firearms unloaded with a locking device, in a locked “firearm storage unit” such as a safe, or in a locked gun room. The firearms would need to be stored in one of these ways when the firearm is not “under the direct physical control or reach of the person.”
Republicans in the House voted party-line against the bill, saying that it would make it very difficult for homeowners to get to a firearm in the case of an emergency.
“Law-abiding gun owners should not be penalized for just being prepared to defend themselves,” House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, said during a seven-hour debate on the bill. Dave Lislegard, DFL-Aurora, was the lone Democrat who voted against the bill.
Hank Long
Hank Long is a journalism and communications professional whose writing career includes coverage of the Minnesota legislature, city and county governments and the commercial real estate industry. Hank received his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota, where he studied journalism, and his law degree at the University of St. Thomas. The Minnesota native lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and four children. His dream is to be around when the Vikings win the Super Bowl.
