A bill that would expand background checks to all gun purchases and transfers in Minnesota cleared its first legislative hurdle Thursday night, despite protests from some gun owners.

The legislation also would beef up information included in the state’s background checks, strengthen penalties for those who sell to disqualified people and give prosecutors more tools to prosecute gun crimes and illegal gun owners.

The DFL-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill on a 5-3 party-line vote.

Law enforcement and public health advocates have argued that while background checks won’t eradicate gun violence, they would help keep guns out of criminals’ hands.

And it has widespread public support. A KSTP/SurveyUSA poll released last month found about 75 percent of Minnesotans surveyed said they supported background checks on all gun buyers.

“This is not only what police want and feel that we need to do a good job for our citizens. This is what the citizens of Minnesotans want,” said Dennis Flaherty, executive director of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association.

“They want stronger background investigations. They want to give latitude to chiefs of police to grant these permits.”

Now, the bill heads to the full Senate for a vote.

But it still faces a tough road in the House. It will have its first vote in the House Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee, where its fate is uncertain.

Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, cited a study by the pro-gun control group Mayors Against Illegal Guns that found 99 percent of Minnesotans live within 10 miles of a federally licensed gun dealer, making it easy to get a background check if they want to buy or transfer guns between private citizens, he said.

“It would, at most, be a minor inconvenience for those who want to participate in a private gun sale,” said Latz, who is sponsoring the package of gun law changes.

But the National Rifle Association and other gun-rights groups oppose universal background checks, arguing they will never be truly universal because criminals will not submit to the system.

“It’s just creating a regulatory scheme that only burdens the law-abiding citizens that are already submitting to background checks,” said Chris Rager, an NRA lobbyist.

Waconia Mayor Jim Nash told lawmakers he considers himself a typical gun owner. He enjoys hunting and recreational shooting, a tradition that has been passed along generation to generation in his family. He said he and his family believe their Second Amendment rights are being infringed upon.

“We don’t need more gun control. We have plenty of gun laws,” Nash said. “We need criminal control.”

The NRA backs an alternative bill that would do much of what Latz’s bill would but without the universal background checks. That proposal is far from dead.

A majority of the House has signed on in support, as has the Minnesota Sheriff’s Association. Sen. Julianne Ortman, R-Chanhassen, introduced it in the Senate this week.

And the NRA has plenty of political clout in Minnesota — particularly an active membership and highly publicized report card grading politicians on gun issues.

The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party controls both the House and Senate, but many rural DFLers are reluctant to support legislation that might appear to restrict the rights of gun owners. That includes universal background checks.

Much of Ortman’s bill was included in Latz’s overall package. But she called it a “hostile takeover” of her work.

“More importantly, I believe this effort is hostile to law-abiding gun owners in the state of Minnesota. It’s also hostile to their personal property rights,” Ortman said.

“But more importantly yet, it’s hostile to the principles of the Second Amendment, which creates our right of gun ownership, not a privilege.”

Latz heatedly responded to opponents that claimed his bill stepped on gun rights or the Constitution.

“There is no Second Amendment issue here,” Latz said. “The Second Amendment is not absolute. The Second Amendment does not guarantee absolutely everyone the right to have unfettered access to firearms.”

Sen. Bobby Jo Champion, DFL-Minneapolis, who pushed for the universal background checks, said guns aren’t a distant problem in another state. He pointed out that his home city saw more than 1,300 gun-related incidents last year.

“This issue transcends politics and parties. Gun violence is a Minnesota problem,” Champion said. “Tonight, we moved one step closer to helping reduce the number of Minnesotans who are victims of gun violence and making sure that guns don’t land in the hands of those prohibited from having them. Let’s move forward together.”

Megan Boldt can be reached at 651-228-5495. Follow her at twitter.com/meganboldt.