Senate Judiciary will hear 2 GOP gun bills.

Byline: Kevin Featherly

Two pieces of GOP gun legislation will be heard in a Senate committee on Tuesday.

Judiciary Chair Warren Limmer, R-Maple Grove, even left the window open just a crack to DFL gun legislation, versions of which have been left to languish in his committee for two years.

His committee will hear two moderate GOP firearms bills proposed in January by Sen. Eric Pratt, R-Prior Lake, and Sen. Paul Anderson, R-Plymouth, during a raucous Senate Judiciary committee hearing in Hibbing.

Tuesday's hearing will be ticketed, an indication that a large crowd is expected.

Pratt's bill, (Senate File 2101) aims to strengthen existing laws related to court-ordered gun seizures, while Anderson's (Senate File 2596) would increase the penalty on illegal firearms transfers. Stronger enforcement of existing law has long been the GOP mantra on firearms.

In an interview Tuesday before the committee scheduled the bills, Limmer said the Pratt and Anderson bills have the virtue of not being "extreme." The DFL's red-flag and background check bills, which are being carried by Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, might not meet that test, he said. "I consider them pushing the edges," Limmer said.

Those bills passed on the House floor on Feb. 27 by 68-62 and 69-62 votes.

In a brief interview Tuesday, Latz said that he had been given no update from his GOP colleagues on whether his bills will get a hearing. He has resorted to monitoring their progress through the media, he said. "I have to read the tea leaves through that," Latz said.

However, Limmer said that he did meet privately with Latz a few weeks ago. There, he said, he suggested to Latz...