Immediately after the St. Paul, Minnesota City Council adopted a restrictive gun control measure—in defiance of the state preemption statute—the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus (MGOC) filed a lawsuit challenging the measure.
According to CBS News, St. Paul is part of a coalition of 17 Minnesota cities planning to adopt what proponents are calling “a comprehensive gun violence prevention ordinance.” Critics of such local ordinances, which are largely symbolic because of state preemption laws, consistently argue the ordinances will not prevent violent crime involving firearms.
Other cities in the coalition include Minneapolis, Golden Valley, Minnetonka, Richfield, Rochester and several others, CBS News reported.
The Pioneer Press detailed tenets of the ordinance, adopted Wednesday. Under conditions of the ordinance:
Possession of so-called “assault weapons,” large-capacity magazines and binary triggers are banned within city limits
All firearms must have serial numbers, effectively banning so-called “ghost guns.”
Firearms are restricted in certain public places—so-called “sensitive areas”—including libraries, parks, city buildings and recreation centers.
Mandatory signage will clearly inform people of these public facilities
Penalties for violations will be established and enforced
In a statement, MGOC Chairman Bryan Strawser said, “This illegal ordinance will immediately have a chilling effect on peaceable gun owners in our capital city. It’s unfortunate that the City Council and Mayor have chosen to waste taxpayer dollars defending a performative ordinance that clearly violates state law.”
In the same statement, Rob Doar, president of the Minnesota Gun Owners Law Center observed, “When a city adopts criminal regulations beyond its delegated powers, it not only acts unlawfully but also directly harms our members’ rights. The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus made every effort to encourage the Council to comply with state law, but their refusal to do so left us no choice but to seek judicial intervention.”
St. Paul City Attorney Lyndsey Olson reportedly said the city is ready to defend the ordinance, according to the Pioneer Press.
Against this backdrop, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) party reportedly organized the third in a series of town hall meetings on “gun violence,” this one in Stillwater. About 150 people were in the audience, which heard from Gov. Tim Walz and others, according to KSTP News.
The push is largely in reaction to the attack at the Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis, which left two students dead and several others injured.
Passing gun control in Minnesota will be a tough chore for the DFL, since the state House of Representatives is evenly split, 67-67, and KSTP says two Democrats are leaving “for other political offices,” while Democrats have a one-vote majority in the state Senate.
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