Congressman Erik Paulsen Holds Town Hall Meetings

U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen held three town hall meetings Wednesday. The five-term Republican hosted two town hall meetings in the day and another at night in Brooklyn Park. These in-person meetings are rare for Paulsen, which is why many voters showed up. Paulsen normally has held “telephone town halls.”

At his first town hall stop in Hamel Wednesday morning, Paulsen pointed out that he is not aligned with President Donald Trump on everything he says or does, including the president’s views on immigrants.

“When comments were made about African nations not being that same standard or having a moral clarity, I fundamentally said that was wrong and the president should apologize,” Paulsen said.

He added, “When you’re being viewed upon in the rest of the world as sort of being the leader of the free world that type of leadership is needed. Statesmanship is needed. I certainly don’t agree with the approach the president has used in many instances.”

There were plenty of subjects that came up at the Hamel Community Center, including global warming, Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election, and taxes. But the hot button issue was gun control. That topic came up often.

Paulsen says he thinks it’s okay to ban bump stocks, which allows semi-automatic firearms to fire shots in rapid succession simulating a fully-automatic firearm.

“When you have a firearm that is illegal, why shouldn’t the device that makes that firearm do what’s illegal, why should that be legal as well?” Paulsen said to crowd.

“I think gun violence restriction orders are the most opportune issue that we can actually pass.”

Variety of people attend Rep. Paulsen’s Town Hall Meeting

To attend the town hall meetings, constituents had to sign up in advance. Those who got to attend were chosen at random. People in the crowd, including Sarah Eigenmann of Plymouth, shared their views with CCX News.

“The majority of the country wants to have universal background checks and a ban on assault-style weapons,” said Eigenmann. “But they’re not listening. He gets big money from the NRA. He’s got an A rating from the NRA.”

Paulsen represents Minnesota’s Third Congressional District, which includes Brooklyn Park, Maple Grove and Plymouth. He is running for re-election against DFL candidate Dean Phillips.

Brooklyn Park | Maple Grove | Plymouth