Rochester crowd meets to listen, talk about gun violence

May 1—ROCHESTER — About 50 people braved the threat of thunderstorms Tuesday night to discuss the threat of gun violence.

First Presbyterian Church on the edge of downtown Rochester hosted the community discussion that saw people both for and against gun ownership looking for common ground and safe solutions.

The discussion was led by four panelists: Olmsted County Sheriff Kevin Torgerson; Maggiy Emery, executive director of Protect Minnesota, a group that advocates for an end to gun violence; Rochester Public Schools Coordinator of Public Safety Julie Claymon; and RPS's Director of School Support, Chris Lingen.

"If you are a gun owner, if you make the choice to own a gun, safely secure that gun at all times," said Emery at the end of the night. "Practice safe storage at home, practice safe storage in a car. Anytime that you're not actively using that gun for its permanent purpose, please keep it safely secured."

While gun deaths in Minnesota peaked in 2022 at 570 and fell only to 569 in 2023 — both numbers 40% above the pre-COVID and pre-George Floyd numbers of 2019 — Emery said the vast majority of those gun deaths are suicides. Parcing the numbers even further, she said, the most common suicide victim is an older male from Greater Minnesota.

Safely securing weapons, she said, is one tactic to reduce suicides. When you have a lockbox, gun safe or trigger lock, "You are putting time and space in between a person in crisis and the trigger of that gun," Emery said. That is time when a loved one can call, or a dog can come back inside and give comfort. "Just the simple time and space that you put between those lethal means and pulling the trigger really can save a life."

Emery said no matter what side of the Second Amendment — the right to keep and bear arms — a person stands on, because guns are a fact of life in our society, safety and education matter.

Torgerson opened his discussion on guns talking about the permitting process, and how the sheriff's office dedicates time to running background checks and making sure people who shouldn't own guns don't get a permit.

He also talked about the new red flag laws in Minnesota, which allow law enforcement to confiscate guns if someone is seen as a danger to themselves or others due to mental health issues.

Torgerson admitted that when the law was passed, he was concerned people would abuse the law — making false claims to law enforcement to disarm an ex, for example — but that hasn't happened.

The county has investigated about 10 or 12 red flag cases, he said, but none has resulted in law enforcement having to confiscate weapons. On a few occasions, a person has voluntarily surrendered weapons during a crisis, which is part of what the law allows, Torgerson said.

For their part, Claymon and Lingen talked about safety measures that have been put in place at schools to prevent gun violence at school. That includes secure entrances at schools, and school resource officers and communications pathways so that parents and students can warn law enforcement of potential problems.

Claymon talked about instances where students might see a classmate make threats on social media, that threat gets relayed to SROs and the district, and to Rochester Police Department, and action is taken immediately.

"So often, we will get calls even in the middle of the night if it needs to be something that police feels that we need to be on it right away," she said.

During the question and answer period, one woman related a story about how a student brought a gun to her daughter's fourth-grade class in the 1980s, and the teacher told students not to tell their parents.

Both Torgerson and the RPS representatives said that would not happen in today's more security-minded climate. Especially in the wake of the Columbine shooting in 1999.

"I'm a bit of an idealist," said one woman during the Q&A portion of the evening, "but my question really is, guns are made to kill things, whether it's for hunting animals, I have no problem with that. But aside from that, why does anybody need to get a permit for an instrument whose sole purpose is to harm someone?"

Torgerson again pointed to the background check process to ensure gun owners were legally able to purchase a weapon.

The problem with gun deaths — those outside of suicide and accidents — was they tended to be connected with other criminal activity, particularly drugs, Torgerson said.

"We also have a saying in our business: Where there's drugs, there's guns, and where there's guns, there's drugs," Torgerson said. "It's something that I've seen over and over and over again through my career."

In fact, Torgerson said there have been three cases of gun violence in the community — not a suicide or accident — in his time in law enforcement where the guns were legally owned and carried. In all other instances, the person using the guns should not have had them in the first place.

Torgerson said no matter what side of the gun ownership issue a person falls on, there's one thing everyone can agree upon.

"We want to keep people safe. It's the bottom line," the sheriff said. "We're more alike than we are different. ... But this is a very tough issue. No question about it."