The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus told St. Paul officials this week that they will sue if the city enacts an ordinance regulating firearms.
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and suburban mayors last week called again on the state to repeal a preemption law that bars cities and counties from regulating firearms, ammunition or their components. They said they want to put in place local firearm-related ordinances to reduce violence.
“The St. Paul City Council is trying to make a political statement with an illegal ordinance, and they know it,” said Bryan Strawser, Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus chairman, in a Wednesday statement. “This isn’t about safety, it’s about virtue signaling at the expense of the law and the rights of peaceable citizens. Our members expect us to stand up when government overreaches, and that’s exactly what we’ll do.”
The City Council is scheduled to introduce the ordinance at its Wednesday afternoon meeting and a public hearing is slated for Nov. 5. If the Council votes to approve the ordinance, which could be Nov. 12, it would go to Carter to be signed into city code.
The proposed ordinance says it “is designed to take effect only upon the repeal, amendment, or judicial invalidation of state preemption laws that currently prohibit local regulation of firearms, ensuring legal enforceability while signaling the city’s readiness to act when empowered.”
But the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus said in a Tuesday letter to Carter and the City Council that “Minnesota courts have repeatedly held that municipalities may not do indirectly what they are forbidden to do directly. … An ordinance that is invalid today does not become valid merely because its enforcement is deferred until an unspecified future date.”
“Should the City proceed with the passage of this ordinance, the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus will immediately initiate legal action to challenge its validity in court,” continued the letter by Rob Doar, the nonprofit’s general counsel. “We will seek declaratory and injunctive relief on behalf of our members, supporters, and all peaceable gun owners residing in St. Paul whose rights and legal clarity are placed in jeopardy by this unlawful measure.”
The City Council will be moving forward with the ordinance as planned, said City Council President Rebecca Noecker.
“It’s not surprising that the Gun Owners Caucus is once again standing in the way of common sense legislation that is supported by the majority of Americans and that saves lives,” she said. “The City Council is responding to the needs of our community — and especially our children — for safety, not to the threats of a special interest group.”
St. Paul’s proposed ordinance
After the Aug. 27 shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, which killed two children and injured dozens more, Gov. Tim Walz said he would call a special session of the Legislature to address gun policy.
Walz more recently walked back his call, saying holding one would be a waste of time without an agreement on a framework ahead of time from Republicans.
Community members and Walz have been calling on Minnesota to take “action on assault weapons,” Carter said last week. “If the legislature is unable to do something different, local leaders will.”
St. Paul’s proposed ordinance says it would:
“Ban assault weapons, large-capacity magazines, and binary triggers within city limits.” Binary triggers allow a semiautomatic weapon to fire both when the trigger is pulled and released, increasing its rate of fire.
“Require all firearms to have serial numbers and prohibit untraceable ‘ghost guns.’”
“Restrict firearms in sensitive public spaces including parks, libraries, recreation centers and city buildings.”
“Mandate clear signage at public facilities to inform residents and encourage compliance.”
“Establish penalties for violations and authorize enforcement by local public safety officials.”
Gun owners group: St. Paul can avoid ‘costly’ legal fight
The City Council received eight emails from people, separate from the Gun Owners Caucus letter, urging them to vote against the ordinance, according to public comments attached to the Council agenda as of Wednesday afternoon.
“Stop the games with … going after legal gun owners,” one person wrote. “… It is a soft on crime problem. … Start locking up criminals for a change!”
The Gun Owners Caucus called on the City Council “to respect the law, honor the limits of local authority, and avoid dragging taxpayers into yet another costly and doomed legal fight.”
Cities and counties can adopt laws that are identical to state law, regulate the discharge of firearms, and the zoning of firearm-related businesses — “that’s all that they can do in statute,” Doar of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus said last week.
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Jennifer Lor, Carter’s press secretary, said Wednesday there’s no case law that prohibits what the city is proposing.
“Furthermore, contingent laws are often put in place and have gone into effect all over the country,” she said. “For example, several states have enacted contingent laws to ban abortion that were, when enacted, in direct violation of Roe v. Wade.”
St. Paul City Council members issued statements in support of the ordinance last week.
“I never want to see another mass shooting in St. Paul, in Minnesota, anywhere,” Councilmember Saura Jost said last week. “… Let this ordinance settle any question about where the people in St. Paul stand on gun violence. St. Paul will be ready when the State lets us do the work.”
