On Wednesday, March 10, the left-leaning Minnesota legislature introduced a bill banning most semi-automatic rifles and magazines with a capacity greater than 10 rounds, and mandating state inspection of firearms storage devices. The bill makes overnight criminals out of those law-abiding citizens who do not comply with the new bans.
SF 4290 was introduced by Senator Matt D. Klein (53, DFL). The legislature is undoubtedly emboldened by similar bills being passed into law around the country, including the ban about to be signed in Virginia by Governor Spanberger.
The bill shoehorns all of the loaded phrases that are typically employed to scare the public into a newly redefined object called a “semi-automatic military-style assault weapon” which includes bans on numerous firearms by name, and those that have the typical feature set of America’s most popular semi-automatic rifle, the AR-15.
It also defines and bans “large capacity magazines” as an ammunition feeding device capable of holding more than 10 rounds.
Effective August 1, 2026, it becomes a felony to transfer, own, or possess “semiautomatic military-style assault weapons” and “large-capacity magazines,” with penalties of up to five years in prison and $25,000 fines. As is nearly always the case, there is a carve-out exemption for law enforcement.
The bill has a grandfathering clause that requires a request – but no guarantee – for “certification of ownership” to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (commonly known as a registry, which is illegal), which then mandates an “appropriate law enforcement agency to inspect the storage of the device,” with a certification renewal required every three years.
Those choosing not to certify their ownership have until February 1 of 2027 to do one of the following:
- Surrender the device to the appropriate law enforcement agency for destruction;
- Modify the device to render it permanently inoperable; or
- Remove the device from the state
Many have speculated that so-called “blue” states are pushing forth bans on popular semi-automatic rifles because the Supreme Court has so far denied cert (turned down) cases on the subject. In June of 2025, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said that the Court “…should, and presumably will address the AR-15 issue soon, in the next term or two.”
