Report: Minnesota Speaker Lisa Demuth potentially saved by red flag law she voted against

Last Saturday, the Minnesota Reformer reported that Minnesota’s 2023 “red flag” law potentially saved House Speaker Lisa Demuth’s (R-Cold Spring) life earlier this year. Demuth voted against the law in 2023 and is actively blocking more gun control measures in the state.

According to the Reformer, the Minnesota State Patrol requested an extreme risk protection order (ERPO) in February to protect Demuth and Rep. Patti Anderson (R-Dellwood). A judge ordered 43-year-old Rachel Welsch to surrender her firearms on March 25 after she allegedly left multiple threatening voicemails to state lawmakers. One voicemail apparently left to Demuth said Welsch would like to see the House Speaker “fall at the end of a barrel.”

ERPOs, also known as “red flag” laws, refer to laws that allow the state to confiscate firearms from a person if they are found to be at risk of harming themselves or others. Minnesota passed an ERPO law in 2023, while the Democrats held both chambers of the state legislature under Gov. Tim Walz (DFL). The bill passed by a 69-63 vote, with Demuth and 61 other Republicans voting against it along with Democratic Rep. Dave Lislegard (DFL-Aurora). After Walz signed it into law, it took effect Jan. 1, 2024.

Demuth ended 2026 session without gun control vote

Demuth, who is also running for governor this year, was elected Minnesota’s House Speaker after Republicans and Democrats agreed on a unique power sharing agreement in February 2025. The deal came after Republicans attempted to seize power in Minnesota’s lower chamber after the 2024 elections resulted in a 67-67 tie between the parties. Per the agreement, Democrats and Republicans must have an even number of Representatives on most committees, giving the GOP the power to block legislation if the parties can’t agree on a compromise.

This has been the case with recent gun control measures proposed by state Democrats, which has been a legislative priority after the Annunciation Catholic Church shooting that killed two children last year. Parents of the children and medical professionals who treated Annunciation victims have urged lawmakers to pass an assault weapons ban in recent months, but Republicans have refused to negotiate on any gun control proposals.

Survivors and family members of the Annunciation Catholic Church School shooting in Minneapolis testify in favor of a bill that would ban the sale and possession of semi-automatic, military-style firearms. pic.twitter.com/gQhmCidHOg

— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) February 25, 2026

Last week, House Democratic Farmer-Labor (DFL) members staged a days-long sit-in at the Minnesota Capitol to protest the GOP’s failure to vote on Senate File 4067, another bill that would ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, expand secure gun storage laws and dedicate over $35 million for school and public safety initiatives. Demuth argued that the bill failed to properly pass through committee, and she ended the 2026 legislative session on May 17 without a vote on SF 4067.

In an op-ed published on May 19, Demuth’s daughter Shelisa — a communications executive who survived a school shooting in 2003 — criticized her mother’s actions on gun control.

“Professionally, my mother prides herself on being fair. She is now running for governor, an office that will require her to bring opponents to the table to negotiate the tough issues, not avoid them,” Shelisa Demuth wrote. “The session she just closed will be her legacy as speaker. The question it leaves behind is not a partisan one. It belongs to every parent who sends a child to school, every neighbor who has attended a vigil, every voter deciding in November what kind of future we will build.”

Demuth’s office did not immediately respond to a request to comment for this story.