Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz proposed a new option Saturday for addressing gun violence: A constitutional amendment to ban the sale and possession of assault rifles in the state. 

“The state would have the voters take a vote because we know it’s super popular,” Walz said in a discussion with New York Times journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro at the MinnPost Festival at Westminster Presbyterian Church in downtown Minneapolis.

The governor has not backed off from his desire to call a special session of the Minnesota Legislature in order to ban assault weapons. But it is clear that, in a divided Legislature, he does not have the votes to make this happen.

Related: At heated Senate hearing, Minnesota Republicans did not budge on guns

A possible constitutional amendment was news to House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring. A Demuth spokesperson said Saturday that the idea had not been discussed in meetings the past few weeks between the governor and legislative leaders, who are negotiating the terms of a potential special session. 

A constitutional amendment would be a tough haul. It requires a majority of the Legislature to vote yes to putting a ban on the ballot, and then a majority of voters approving the amendment. A voter who leaves the amendment question blank counts as a “no” vote. 

The last successful constitutional amendment came in 2016 when voters said yes to a new government body that would set legislator salaries. 

For Walz, it would be a gambit based on the idea that public sentiment has turned his way following the assassination of Melissa Hortman and the mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic church and school. A MinnPost survey of Minnesota registered voters from 2022 found that 57% were for a high-capacity magazine ban and 54% favored a prohibition on assault rifles.

“The Republicans have told me they do not want a weapons ban,” Walz said. “I’m asking to put it on the floor” and have the GOP explain “the reason they’re not going to do that.”

Walz’s remarks came at an inflection point for his administration and personal political career. 

‘If you want to cheat … you might be able to do that’

The last few weeks have featured allegations and indictments surrounding Minnesota Department of Human Services programs that used federal and state Medicaid money.

The lion’s share of the headlines concern the now-defunct Housing Stabilization Services program, which was supposed to be a pilot effort that would cost the state $2.6 million. In fact, as the Minnesota Star Tribune has reported, the total cost mushroomed to over $100 million and has so far resulted in eight federal indictments for wire fraud. 

DHS has also acknowledged credible allegations of fraud in programs meant to help adults with disabilities. And on Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s office for Minnesota charged an autism provider with wire fraud. 

Related: Annunciation parents’ pain dominates Minnesota Capitol gun violence hearing

Walz said some of this fraud comes with the territory of a state that always tries to maximize Medicaid dollars.

“We’re a generous state,” Walz said, with laws “that are able to move this money as quickly as possible to improve people’s lives.”

The governor added that Minnesota “certainly contracts a lot with nonprofits or third-party organizations to move this money out,” meaning that “if you want to cheat, just like a Nigerian prince asking you for your money at home or whatever, you might be able to do that.”

“You’re going to see more stories,” Walz predicted. “You’re going to see more people going to prison.” 

Walz did say that he has used recently passed laws that give his office more leeway to stop payments to government contractors suspected of fraud. 

Pillow fight

Walz made it official last week that he will try to become the first Minnesota governor ever to be elected for three terms. If elected, Walz has vowed not to campaign for president in 2028.

As for why he should be the first three-term governor in the state’s 167-year history, Walz said no governor before had to deal with Donald Trump as president, and “and I think that is a unique situation.”

He appeared excited to return to the rush of campaigning when sizing up possible challenger Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow and perhaps best known for helping finance Donald Trump’s challenge of the 2020 presidential election results. 

Every Republican running for governor has “made it clear that they want the endorsement of Donald Trump. And I would argue that none of them have more ties to the president than him,” Walz said of Lindell, later adding, “I will brush up on my pillow knowledge.”

Meanwhile, Walz was self-deprecating about his run for the vice president, this edition of Monday morning quarterbacking courtesy of Kamala Harris’s new book, “107 Days.”

Asked about Harris’s disappointment with his debate performance against now-Vice President JD Vance, Walz said, “If the vice presidential debate mattered, Dan Quayle wouldn’t have been vice president.”

Editor’s note: This article first appeared on MinnPost and was written by state government reporter Matthew Blake. It is republished here with permission under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

MinnPost is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to producing high-quality journalism for Minnesotans.