Minnesota on Tuesday will join 18 other states across the country ushering in tougher gun laws that include expanded background checks and a so-called red flag law that allows authorities to ask the courts to temporarily take away firearms from people they believe are a risk to themselves or others.
The new laws are part of a sweeping package of public safety bills the legislature passed this session that Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) signed into law. The new gun laws also include tightened restrictions on who can own a machine gun and makes significant changes to the purchase and transfer of guns.
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The new law, for example, does not allow a friend or family member to lend a firearm out for a hunting trip but does carve out an exception for them to let someone borrow it within hunting hours and only if they are together.
When it comes to the private transfer of guns, both the owner and the recipient must fill out a record of transfer about the gun and themselves, and authorities will have 30 days to process the transfer. They currently have seven. A sheriff or chief of police can deny an application though they must give the applicant written notification on why there was a denial, including the source of the information. The applicant can appeal the decision but has only 20 days to do so and will be responsible for their own legal and court fees, Rob Doar, senior vice president of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, said.
“The impact of these laws will only be felt by peaceable gun owners, who are being imposed with unreasonable barriers to the free exercise of a Constitutionally protected right,” Doar added. “Regulating peaceful conduct that is common among gun owners will do nothing to impact violent crime. Once again, it is law-abiding gun owners in the government’s sights, not resources and strategies to address the mental health crisis or criminal misuse of guns.”
Minnesota was part of a midterm election wave in which residents rejected Republican candidates and voted in their rivals. The state’s Democrats, known as the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, control four of the state’s eight U.S. House seats, its Senate seats, both chambers of the state legislature, and all other statewide offices, including the governor’s mansion. This allowed lawmakers to push through one of the most progressive agendas in the country, which included gun control.
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While the gun safety measures alone may have made a “yes” difficult ask for some rural Democrats in the state Senate, they were able to bypass most of the backlash by tucking the measures into a broader public safety bill.
“As a veteran, gun owner, hunter, and dad, I know basic gun safety isn’t a threat to the Second Amendment — it’s about keeping our kids safe,” Walz said at the signing ceremony. “There’s no place for weapons of war in our schools, churches, banks, or anywhere else people are just trying to live their lives. Today is about taking meaningful action to create a safer future for our kids, and I am proud to sign this commonsense lifesaving legislation into law.”
