Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus Notches Win in Challenge to Saint Paul’s Gun Laws

It’s hard to believe that lefty Minnesota is a preemption state, but it is. The state that elected Tim Walz as governor still has preemption on the books, though we know the Democrats would like to repeal it. They really want to, and it’s always possible they’ll finally get enough numbers in the state Senate to make that happen.

But they haven’t yet, and that’s important.

Saint Paul tried to prepare for this eventuality by passing a number of local gun control laws. However, unlike some other preemption violations, these were written so that they won’t go into effect until preemption was repealed. This was meant as something of a shield that would keep them from being overturned.

Well, it didn’t stop them from being sued, and sure enough, the city tried to argue that because the law hadn’t gone into effect yet, then the plaintiffs had no standing.

And how did that work out for them?

📋 Case update: Caucus v. City of Saint Paul (Preemption)

Quick recap. St. Paul passed a sweeping gun control ordinance — banning possession of semi-automatic rifles and binary triggers, restricting carry, and more.

They wrote it to take effect only if the legislature repeals… pic.twitter.com/npfkSMiJ8A

— MN Gun Owners Caucus (@mnguncaucus) July 21, 2026

They wrote it to take effect only if the legislature repeals state preemption, then claimed it harmed no one.

We sued anyway. 

Minnesota law is clear: the legislature has reserved the entire field of firearms regulation to itself, with a few narrow exceptions that don’t apply here. Cities don’t get to write their own gun laws.

The city tried to get our case dismissed, arguing nobody was harmed because the ordinance hadn’t taken effect. In other words, they made our argument for us.

Judge Castro agreed with us. The law likely applies, and the case moves forward.

Now the city has appealed that ruling to the Minnesota Court of Appeals. That appeal is ongoing. 

We don’t have dates yet, and we don’t know if the court will take it. If it does, briefing and argument will push a final decision out by some months.

That’s where things stand. We’ll keep you updated at every step, just like we did with the binary trigger case.

Lawsuits like this are how we hold cities accountable when they ignore state law. 

Great work, people. Absolutely great work, and the truth is that if the law is illegal, no one should wait to be harmed by something they know will harm them, either through compliance or non-compliance.

If they comply, should the hypothetical day come that preemption is no longer the law, then suddenly people will be exposed and left vulnerable to potentially violent encounters with no means of defending themselves. If they don’t comply, they face criminal charges. They’re damned if they do, damned if they don’t.

That’s not how it should be. 

Ever.

While I understand the principle of requiring standing on a lawsuit, the judge correctly determined that the plaintiffs had it, and that they faced harm. That was enough.

As noted, it remains to be seen if the appeals court will take the case, and if they do, it’s unclear how long it will be before the case is heard.

MNGOC General Counsel Rob Doar pointed out to the Daily Caller News Foundation that every judge appointed by the governor over the last 15 years has been a Democrat, due to that party’s control of the governor’s mansion. That doesn’t make for a promising combination, but the group did successfully get the state’s binary trigger ban overturned by addressing the legality of the law itself, versus using a gun rights argument. It’s entirely possible this will work yet again, and I hope it does.

Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

Help us continue to report on and expose the Democrats’ gun control policies and schemes. Join Bearing Arms VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.