By Patrick Condon

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Minnesotans broadly support tighter background checks on all gun sales but are less confident that stricter gun laws would do much to prevent the alarming rise of mass shootings in recent years.

That’s according to a Star Tribune Minnesota Poll, which found 82-percent support for criminal background checks on all gun sales including in private transactions and at gun shows. The overwhelming majority support extends across gender, income and political party lines, and to every part of the state, with even 78 percent of residents outside the Twin Cities expressing support.

Whether such laws would actually reduce mass shootings produced far less certainty. Only 15 percent felt it would help “a lot,” while 45 percent expected it to help “not much” or “not at all.” Those results also split much more along gender and party lines, with a majority of both men and Republicans thinking it would make little or no difference. Women and Democrats were more likely to think it would.

“How can it hurt?” Karen Tilbury, a poll respondent from Marietta, near the South Dakota border, said of laws that would slow down the gun-buying process. The 61-year-old retired dietitian said her husband has several hunting rifles, but she thinks owning and using weapons should be treated more like car ownership.

“If you’re going to drive a car you have to be of a certain age, you have to have training, you have to be tested, you have to be licensed, you have to renew your license,” said Tilbury, a Democrat. “Why shouldn’t gun ownership be the same way?”

America’s long-running debate about guns, always emotional and contentious, has been amplified in recent years after deadly shootings in schools, workplaces and other public gathering places. Earlier in January, President Obama announced a series of executive actions, including expanded background checks, meant to reduce gun violence. In Minnesota, a longtime DFL lawmaker is planning to push a new package of gun restrictions that she hopes will be viewed as modest.

“I don’t want to put something provocative out there so I focused on common-sense, publicly supported initiatives,” said Rep. Kim Norton, DFL-Rochester, who said her not-yet-finalized proposal is likely to include background checks for private sales, an extension of the current seven-day waiting period, and a requirement that trigger locks be included with all gun purchases.