Minnesota Lawmaker Stages Sit-In, Wants Stronger Gun Laws

ST. PAUL (AP) -- A Democratic lawmaker is holding a 24-hour sit-in on the Minnesota House floor to protest the lack of action on gun legislation this year.

Rep. Erin Maye Quade began the protest Tuesday. Several Democratic colleagues and one suburban Republican joined at the start to share stories of Minnesota residents who were fatally shot.

Maye Quade and others are calling for expanded background checks and a legal way for family members to temporarily restrict a loved one's gun access.

Those measures have faced stiff resistance from Republican majorities in the Legislature and rural Democrats.

Gun laws are under scrutiny nationwide after February's deadly school shooting at a Florida high school.

Maye Quade is a first-term lawmaker from Apple Valley, a Minneapolis suburb.