Minnesota State Representative Peggy Scott announced on Apr. 24 that the House has passed several key pieces of legislation, including a bill she authored to standardize the process for convicted domestic abusers to relinquish their firearms.
Scott said her bill aims to address longstanding issues where courts have not consistently enforced orders requiring abusers to transfer their firearms, sometimes resulting in tragic outcomes. “The goal of the bill is to get guns out of the hands of dangerous abusers convicted of domestic child abuse or domestic abuse. We have seen repeated instances of courts not following up on their orders for removal, which has led to murders of people who had feared for their lives and petitioned the court for protection,” Scott said.
She added that if someone is convicted of domestic violence and deemed a danger by a judge, this legislation would require them to turn in their firearms through a new compliance hearing process. The move follows reports highlighting failures in enforcing protection orders over recent years.
In addition, Scott reported progress on her social media safety bill, which passed through the Minnesota House Ways and Means Committee and now heads to the House floor. The proposed law would require platforms to use age-estimation technology to close accounts belonging to children aged 15 or under without parental consent, prohibit addictive features for minors’ accounts with consent, and ban targeted advertising toward minors in Minnesota. Platforms would also need current technology verification methods for users’ ages.
Scott also co-authored bipartisan legislation proposing a “100% fraud tax” targeting individuals or organizations convicted of fraud or benefiting from fraudulent activities. Revenue from this tax would be directed into an account dedicated solely for income or property tax relief.
Looking ahead, these bills will undergo further debate and votes as they move through legislative processes.
