Minnesota Physicians Urge Gov. Walz to Call Special Session to Address Firearm Violence

September 8, 2025

The Minnesota Medical Association (MMA) and five other physician advocacy organizations sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz on September 5 urging him to call a special legislative session to “pass legislation to address the devastating death and injuries from firearms and gun violence.” 

The letter specifically urged lawmakers to pass:  

1. a statewide ban on assault weapons,  
2. a statewide ban on high-capacity magazines, 
3. a statewide requirement that firearms be stored locked, unloaded, and separate from ammunition, and  
4. removal of the current prohibition on local municipalities enacting stricter firearm regulations than the state. 

“Firearm-related death and injury is a public health crisis,” said the letter signed by leaders from the MMA, the Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians, the Minnesota Chapter of the American College of Physicians, Minnesota Psychiatric Society, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists – Minnesota.  “The leading cause of death for children in the state of Minnesota is not cancer, car crashes, or overdose – it is firearms.” 

The physician advocates called upon state lawmakers “to enact evidence-based firearm policies to save lives and protect the well-being of all Minnesotans, but especially those who are most vulnerable – children and adolescents.