Minnesota Dems Defeated in Bid to Ban Commonly Owned Arms and Magazines

The 2026 legislative session in Minnesota has been gaveled to a close, and Democrats were unsuccessful in their attempt to pass a sweeping gun control bill that would have banned the sale and transfer of many semi-automatic firearms and commonly owned ammunition magazines. 

The bun and magazine ban was a top priority for Gov. Tim Walz, who demanded the restrictions on popular firearms after the shooting last August at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis, where two children were killed and two dozen were injured when a 23-year-old former student at the Catholic school opened fire on a mass. The perpetrator in the shooting used a rifle, pistol, and shotgun in the attack, all of which were legally purchased, and Walz quickly vowed to bring lawmakers into a special session to adopt a ban on “assault weapons” and “large capacity” magazines. 

Walz never followed through on that promise. Instead, he started pointing the finger at Republicans for refusing to go along with his gun ban plan, even though at that point there were three Democrat state senators who were uncommitted to the governor’s demand. During the regular session, though, all three ultimately fell in line and voted for a Senate bill that packaged the gun and magazine restrictions with increased funding for school security and mental health, and the bill cleared the Senate by a one-vote margin. 

In the equally-divided House, though, a similar bill had already failed to make it out of committee, and Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth refused the demands of Democrats and anti-gun activists to bring the Senate bill directly to the House floor for a vote. 

While the semi-auto ban and prohibitions on ammunition magazines that can accept more than 17 rounds were at the top of the anti-gunners’ wish list this session, the MN Gun Owners Caucus notes that there were dozens of gun control bills introduced this session, and none of them made it to Walz for his signature. 

✅SINE DIE.

The 2025-2026 legislative biennium is over. Dozens of gun control bills introduced.

Zero passed.

That doesn’t happen by accident.

That happens because:

Over the past two years, you, our members and supporters, sent hundreds of thousands of emails to your… pic.twitter.com/CMygqInWS5

— MN Gun Owners Caucus (@mnguncaucus) May 18, 2026

The Caucus is right about the fantastic work from Minnesota’s 2A community this session, as well as the Republican legislators who stood their ground amidst attacks on their character and a well-funded lobbying effort from gun control groups like Everytown and Moms Demand Action. 

The same legislators who just spent two years trying to ban your rifles, your magazines, and your ability to carry are running for reelection. The Governor’s mansion is on the ballot. The Minnesota House and Senate are on the ballot.Starting now, our focus turns to one thing: making sure Minnesota has a pro-Second Amendment majority in the House, the Senate, and the Governor’s mansion when the 2027 session gavels in.We held the line for two years. Now we go on offense.

As the MN Gun Owners Caucus says, the fight is far from over. The same grassroots activists who worked to defeat the Democrats’ anti-civil rights agenda now need to focus on electing pro-2A candidates this fall. Gun control activists have a one-vote majority in the Senate and are tied with pro-2A lawmakers in the House, but gun owners and Second Amendment supporters have the chance to elect pro-2A majorities in both chambers, as well as sending a Second Amendment supporter to the governor’s office as well. 

Even before the session came to a close, Democrats were already claiming that Republicans didn’t go along with the gun and magazine ban because they love firearms more than children, and we can expect those attacks to continue on the campaign trail between now and Election Day. 

It was the Democratic caucus in both the House and Senate, however, who refused to go along with legislation that would have offered tens of millions of dollars to both public and private schools to upgrade security. Democrats had no interest in doing anything to bolster school security if they couldn’t package it with a gun ban. By their own logic, then, Minnesota Democratic lawmakers must care more about banning guns than protecting children, and I don’t think that will play well outside of liberal enclaves like Minneapolis and St. Paul.  

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.

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