Members of the Senate GOP blasted DFL lawmakers Thursday morning ahead of a hearing for a bill that aims to increase penalties for straw purchases of firearms.

Last year, Sen. Julia Coleman, R-Waconia, and other Republicans authored Senate File 733 to make straw purchasing a felony punishable by up to two years in prison and add an aggravating factor that could push the penalty up to seven years in prison. However, it stalled in the DFL-controlled Legislature.

Following last month’s shooting that killed three first responders in Burnsville — for which the mother of some of the suspect’s children is now charged with straw purchasing and faces up to 15 years in prison — Rep. Kaela Berg, DFL-Burnsville, introduced a measure to make straw purchasing a felony with an aggravating factor that would make the maximum penalty five years in prison.

Just before the House of Representatives hearing on Berg’s bill, House File 2609, Coleman said, “Democrats are playing political games. They are abusing their power, and lives are on the line.”

Berg denied the bill is only a response to the Burnsville first responder murders, although it does give the legislation new urgency after a woman was charged with the straw purchases of weapons used in that crime.

“It was shocking. It was horrible and the lives of many families were torn apart that day,” Berg told members of the House Public Safety Committee.

Her bill would not just increase the penalty for straw gun purchases, where a person buys a gun for someone prohibited from possessing them, from a gross misdemeanor to a felony. It also broadens the scope of who can be charged with the crime by adding to the definition of what a person ”should know.”

“It makes the Minnesota straw purchase law effective by requiring that the purchaser know or reasonably ‘should know’ the transferee is a prohibited person,” she said in introducing her bill. “This makes the standard consistent with federal law.”

“We obviously agree on the increasing penalties for straw purchases,” says Rep. Walter Hudson, R-Albertville.

But Hudson and other Republicans wondered why Berg didn’t reach out to partner with a GOP lawmaker who authored similar legislation last year.

“I’m going to be honest. I did not reach out, and likely a mistake on my part,” Berg responded.

Berg’s bill was laid over for possible inclusion in a larger public safety bill. In addition to the straw purchasing penalties, Berg’s bill also aims to strengthen the statutory definition of trigger activators — known as binary triggers — and would require reporting on gun trafficking and firearm seizures. Trigger activators are detachable devices that enable regular guns to be fired at a higher rate of speed, such as that of a machine gun.

Meanwhile, fiery words from Sen. Julia Coleman, R-Waconia, who claims Democrats in the Senate deliberately ignored her straw purchase bill from a year ago so they could take credit for legislation in the aftermath of the Burnsville tragedy.

“This motion is urgent because three heroes were murdered,” Coleman said while trying unsuccessfully to bring her bill to the floor on Thursday. Her motion was rejected by the DFL-controlled Senate.

Prior to the Senate floor session, she accused Democrats of stalling her legislation.

“They are holding up the ability to do something today to play political games and three men are dead because we didn’t pass this bill last year,” she said at a news conference.

Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, refuted the assertion a bill last year would have prevented the Burnsville tragedy this year. “The difference between a gross misdemeanor and felony is important, but there’s no way to determine that difference would have deterred the individual [who] engaged in a straw purchase.”

Still, House and Senate Democrats are now considering straw purchase bills to deter future illegal purchases.