Governor Walz signs gun control bill amid declining crime wave as Second Amendment advocates speak out

A federal appeals court has declared Minnesota's law prohibiting 18- to 20-year-olds from obtaining a gun permit unconstitutional, sparking criticism of Governor Tim Walz's stance on the Second Amendment.

“As a strong believer in the Second Amendment, I applaud the federal appeals court's decision regarding Minnesota's law. This ruling affirms the constitutional right of all law-abiding citizens to bear arms,” ​​Minnesota Republican Rep. Pete Stauber said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Especially at a time when crime rates are concerning, it is critical that individuals have the ability to protect themselves and their families.”

Stauber, who in the House of Representatives since January 2019, is known for his background in Law enforcement and his focus on public safety.

“Governor Walz's administration has indeed taken positions that many, including myself, consider hostile to the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment. This ruling reminds us of the importance of protecting those freedoms from encroachment,” Stauber continued.

Tim Walz is called a “political chameleon” after abandoning his previous stance for the Second Amendment

In 2018, Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler debunked Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz’s claim that he once carried weapons “in war.” (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

“This decision is not just about carrying guns; it is also about respecting and preserving our constitutional rights. It is an important step to ensure that those rights are preserved for all Minnesotans,” Stauber said.

Vice President Kamala Harris added Walz as her running mate for the Democratic nomination for the White House in 2024, even though the two previously had very different views on the Second Amendment and gun control.

When Walz served as a congressman from 2007 to 2019 in a district that typically voted red, he was considered an advocate of gun rights and hunting.

However, Walz has since changed his mind and is now supporting gun control measures, causing him to lose his high approval rating among Second Amendment supporters. The NRA called Walz a “political chameleon” in a statement to Fox News Digital on Tuesday after Harris officially announced him as her running mate.

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“Tim Walz is a political chameleon – he changes his positions to pursue his own personal goals. In Congress, Walz pretended to be a friend of gun owners to gain their support in his rural Minnesota district. When he focused on other offices, he betrayed law-abiding Minnesotans and promoted a radical gun control agenda that emboldened criminals and left ordinary citizens defenseless. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz cannot be trusted to defend freedom and our constitutional rights,” Randy Kozuch, chairman of the NRA Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF), said in a statement.

Walz wrote in a 2018 opinion piece that his views on guns were “evolving in some ways,” but that he had “always been a reformer.”

Walz's past stance on guns stands in stark contrast to Harris's chants in recent years that the Biden administration would take on the NRA and win, citing Biden's work as a senator when he voted to ban semi-automatic firearms as part of a 1994 major crime bill.

“@JoeBiden took on the @NRA and won. He can do it again,” Harris tweeted last year, accompanied by a campaign ad celebrating Biden's determination to “ban assault weapons.”

Since Walz took office as governor of Minnesota in 2019, violent crime has been on the rise.

Minnesota Department of Public Safety data reviewed by Fox News Digital shows that in 2018, the year before Walz took office, the state recorded 104 murders, a number that rose more than 12% in 2019, when the state recorded 117 murders. Murders in the state jumped to 185 in 2020, when violent crime rose statewide. In 2021, the state recorded 201 murders, 182 in 2022 and 172 last year.

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State data shows that in the four years before Walz took office, from 2015 to 2018, the state averaged about 113 murders per year. During Walz's five years as governor, that number rose to an annual average of 171.

Fox News Digital's Emma Colton contributed to this report.