By Thomas Fraki

More than 50 people were gathered at the New Hope city council meeting on the evening of Jan. 26, 2015. Apart from the regular proceedings, two new police officers were being sworn in that night. In attendance were family and friends, adults and children. Following the ceremony the crowd moved into the lobby of the city hall. Moments later, a man armed with a semi-automatic shotgun ascended the steps leading to the lobby.

As 68-year-old Ray Kmetz fired his gun into the crowd, an unarmed, off-duty police officer struggled with Kmetz over the gun. Kmetz was shot and killed by other officers on the scene.

Although Kmetz had a criminal history and was treated for a degenerative brain disease, he was still able to legally purchase three shotguns from an online vendor without any background check due to a legislative loophole. 

The first few months of 2016 have seen a steep rise in the amount of gun violence incidents within Minneapolis. Between January and March, there have been 74 shooting victims in Minneapolis as opposed to 40 over the same period in 2015, according to police crime summaries.

Legislators and city officials hope that a change to the state’s current laws regarding background checks would help to curb increasing gun violence such as that in Minneapolis.

The State Senate Judiciary Committee met for an informational session April 26 to hear testimony on a bill that would require criminal background checks for all firearm transfers in the state. Currently, there are several exceptions to background check requirement, including gun shows, online purchases and individuals selling firearms.

The bill, authored by Sen. Ron Latz, DFL – St. Louis Park, would work to close the loopholes that are being exploited by those who should not have access to firearms. While 60 percent of all Minnesota gun transfers are done with a criminal background check, the rest are not, according to Sen. Latz.  This means that a large portion of the state’s gun trade does not take into account the history of the person buying the weapon.

“Senate file 2493, for gun violence prevention, is the single most effective thing Minnesotans can do to help keep guns out of the hands of felons, domestic abusers or people suffering from dangerous mental illness,” Sen. Latz said in his testimony.

According to Sen. Latz, in the 18 states with comprehensive criminal background checks there is, on average with handguns, a 46 percent decrease in women as victims of domestic gun violence, a 48 percent decrease in gun violence against police, and a 48 percent decrease in firearm-assisted suicides.

Tim Fournier, the New Hope chief of police, recounted the story of Ray Kmetz in his testimony to the Senate Judiciary committee. The measures that the bill would take would have prevented Kmetz from purchasing the three shotguns that he found online on his own.

“When dangerous people are allowed to evade the background check system, they threaten the very foundation of public safety,” Fournier said.

John Choi, Ramsey County Attorney, said during the session that when felons are able to have access to firearms, then “there is something wrong in our system that allows this to happen.”

Choi raised the issue of “straw buyers” as another problem that has led to the number of guns currently on Minnesota streets. A “straw buyer” is someone with a clean record who can purchase a firearm for someone who might not otherwise be able to purchase the weapon due to his or her history.

 The Fourth Precinct in north Minneapolis experiences the majority of the city’s gun violence.

“I deal with a tremendous amount of tragedy, and a lot of that has to do with gun violence. But it is not enough, I believe, to solely focus on the person that pulled the trigger because too often… we have to ask the question about how these individuals obtained these guns,” Choi said.

The informational hearing also brought out members of the Minnesota gun rights community. Andrew Rothman of the Minnesota Gun Owners Civil Rights Alliance argued before the Committee, stating that the proposed law would put unfair financial burden on buyers and create documents akin to a firearms registry.

“We shouldn’t legislate based on fears,” Rothman said.