Gov. Tim Walz used the backdrop of a gleaming new high school Tuesday night to call on the Legislature in his State of the State speech to enact new gun control measures to make schools and communities safer, while touting the achievements of last year's legislative session. Walz went to Owatonna High School to hold up how the southern Minnesota community has made big investments in education and workforce development and to use it as an example for how the rest of the state can make progress. The local business community and voters teamed up a few years ago to raise the money after decades of talk about replacing a century-old building. “That small window of opportunity — that brief moment when the stars aligned — produced a community institution that you’re in today that will stand for decades and will impact tens of thousands of children,” Walz said. Walz called for prompt action to strengthen requirements for safe storage of firearms, require better reporting of lost and stolen guns, and raise penalties for “straw buyers” who purchase firearms for people who can’t legally have them because of their criminal records. FULL STORY: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/politics/governor-walz-takes-his-state-of-the-state-speech-on-the-road-to-owatonna/89-62476a76-aec2-45a8-b6c3-86c5688bbd42