Senate Democrats advance wide-reaching gun control legislation that bans AR-15

Democrats in the Minnesota Senate held a marathon committee hearing on Friday where they advanced a major gun control bill to the next stage of the legislative process.

That bill, SF 3655, would ban the possession, sale, transfer, or ownership of a “semiautomatic military-style assault weapon.” The specific language of SF 3655 would ban a wide swath of firearms including the AR-15, the most popular firearm in America.

Authored by DFL Sen. Zaynab Mohamed, SF 3655 would also ban what it calls “large-capacity magazine[s].” The bill defines a “large-capacity magazine” as “any ammunition feeding device with the capacity to accept more than ten rounds.”

Under Mohamed’s bill, current owners of guns prohibited by SF 3655 would need to alert the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) that they own one of those firearms, obtain a “certification of ownership,” and renew that certificate every three years.

The bill does allow an individual to inherit one of the would-be banned guns if they pursue the certification process. In short, Mohamed’s bill would require Minnesotans to either get rid of any firearms banned by SF 3655 or register them with the BCA.

Violations of the ban on “military-style assault weapon[s]” would result in a felony conviction that could result in up to five years in prison, a $25,000 fine, or both. Violations of the ban on “large-capacity magazine[s]” would also result in a felony conviction.

That bill was one of many pieces of legislation that were heard during Friday’s meeting of the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee. At present, the DFL has a one-vote majority in the Senate, and all committees are therefore controlled by the DFL.

During Friday’s hearing on SF 3655, Republican Sen. Michael Holmstrom said he went to a sporting goods store and was “unable to find any hunting rifle, a semiautomatic hunting rifle, that would not have been banned” by the language in Mohamed’s bill.

The committee ultimately recommended passage of SF 3655 and sent the bill on to the next committee in a 6-3, party-line vote.

Lawmakers in the committee also heard SF 2320, a bill that would give cities the ability to prohibit firearms and other weapons on city-owned property. Cities do not currently have that power. That bill was advanced in a split voice vote.

Another bill discussed on Friday would create an “office of gun violence prevention” within the Minnesota Department of Health. The committee sent that bill on to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee to be considered and potentially receive an appropriation amount.

Lawmakers also discussed a bill that would spend $100,000 on a public awareness campaign for Minnesota’s recently-implemented red flag law. That bill was laid over for possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill.

Given the fact that the Minnesota House of Representatives is split with 67 Republicans and 67 Democrats, the DFL’s gun control laws are unlikely to pass into law.

Luke Sprinkel

Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.