The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus on Saturday, joined by a few Republican state lawmakers, pushed back on gun-related legislation expected to hit the Minnesota House floor on Monday.

The caucus’ annual second amendment rally brought a few dozen Minnesotans to the Capitol rotunda, signaling a continued deep partisan divide on the issue.

“It is about our inalienable right to self-defense, our right to defend ourselves, our loved ones and our families against criminals and a tyrannical government,” Caucus Chairman Bryan Strawser began.

Speakers, including House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, focused their opposition on three bills that DFL state lawmakers are expected to publicly support during a press conference on Monday.

“Please keep rallying. Don’t give up on this,” Demuth encouraged. “As you know, they are on a full mission to push the gun control bills you have heard about. All that does is make it harder for Minnesotans to use their second amendment rights.”

One of the three bills sets stricter standards for safe firearm storage. Another would require gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms to law enforcement within 48 hours of realizing they are missing.

Strawser and Demuth argued both of the bills are overreaching. Both leaning into opposition of the mandatory reporting bill.

“This bill actually criminalizes victims who have had their firearm stolen instead of holding the perpetrators of the crime accountable,” Demuth said.

DFL Representative Kaohly Vang Her, who wrote that legislation, responded in an interview Saturday afternoon.

“I think that being a gun owner is something that is a huge responsibility. I am a gun owner,” she began. “I have had intrusions into my home, and I’ve had to take inventory of the things within my home that I think might be missing of a value, and a firearm is of great value. I often think it is so interesting that we look at it as punishing people and that they’re victims when the truth is, is that we do this already in every other part of our lives.”

The third bill of focus would increase the criminal penalty for straw purchases to a felony. The topic has been top of mind after three first responders were shot and killed in Burnsville in February. The shooter in that case couldn’t legally own guns, and it was later discovered that someone else purchased them for him.

The Minnesota House is expected to take up all three bills on Monday after the press conference.