{"id":113546,"date":"2025-11-26T17:16:31","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T23:16:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=113546"},"modified":"2025-11-26T17:16:31","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T23:16:31","slug":"113546","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=113546","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

Preemption Laws Make Lawful Carry Easier\u2026That\u2019 Why They\u2019re Under Attack by the Gun Control Industry.<\/a><\/p>\n

Preemption laws offer legal protection for gun owners, but only when they are enforced. The work to advance any pro-gun legislation is arduous, more so in Minnesota than most states. But passing a law is only half the battle. This is also especially true in Minnesota, where local officials are concocting yet another illegal scheme to defy the state\u2019s firearm preemption statute.<\/p>\n

This has sadly become the norm, as defying preemption\u00a0is a recognized way<\/a>\u00a0for municipal politicians to signal to their anti-gun supporters and donors that if the Second Amendment is no impediment to their plans, neither is a state statute. This contempt is now playing out in Minnesota, where mass noncompliance and legal fairytales are the order of the day.<\/p>\n

The city of Saint Paul, Minnesota, recently\u00a0declared that their city council<\/a>\u00a0\u201cstands ready to act on day one when the state lifts preemption\u201d to establish the complete ban on possession of semi-automatic firearms, \u201clarge capacity\u201d magazines, binary triggers, \u201cghost guns,\u201d as well as to create even more \u201cgun-free zones.\u201d It admits, however, that none of their new gun control is actually enforceable under the law as it presently stands.<\/p>\n

Current Minnesota law,\u00a0Minn. Stat. \u00a7 471.633<\/a>, states:<\/p>\n

The legislature preempts all authority of a home rule charter or statutory city of the first class, county, town, municipal corporation, or other governmental subdivision, or any of their instrumentalities, to regulate firearms, ammunition, or their respective components to the complete exclusion of any order, ordinance or regulation by them except that:<\/em><\/p>\n

(a)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>A governmental subdivision may regulate the discharge of firearms and<\/em><\/p>\n

(b)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A governmental subdivision may adopt regulations identical to state law<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Local regulation inconsistent with this section is void.<\/em><\/p>\n

State law speaks clearly on the matter, and no parts of the adopted or proposed ordinances qualify under the exceptions. Meanwhile, passing illegal legislation on the pretext that the law may someday change doesn\u2019t remedy the violation. Try withholding presently owed taxes in the hope of future amendments to a state\u2019s revenue laws to see where that gets you.<\/p>\n

Yet even while acknowledging these efforts as unconstitutional in Minnesota due to the existing firearm preemption law, the Saint Paul City Council unanimously\u00a0passed the ordinance<\/a>\u00a0and became the first city among a coalition of 17 cities that have pledged to do the same.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0city of Edina, Minnesota<\/a>, attempted a similar effort last week which is now reportedly on hold. Edina Mayor James Hovland noted he wants residents to be able to weigh in at a public hearing first before the city council takes a vote while seemingly ignoring Edina City Attorney David Kendall\u2019s legal input that the city cannot put an effective date on a gun ban until state law is changed and that he doesn\u2019t, \u201cthink that the council is in a good position to direct police to enforce [such] an ordinance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without any enforcement ability, these actions are transparently performative political theatre. However, a deeper dive at the continued audacity of jurisdictions to ignore the superior authority of the state illustrates the ongoing danger posed to the rule of law. Fundamental to the principle of law is clarity, and while these local politicians may feel empowered, their actions continue to create confusion and fear for residents and law enforcement officers.<\/p>\n

Of course, lawsuits that should not have to be filed have and will be to defend gun owner rights. Judicial ping-pong on an already established legal principle will further contribute to havoc as gun control advocates perceive a dual benefit of virtual signaling and depleting the coffers of their adversaries, who are forced to defend settled law against frivolous attacks. \u00a0Taxpayer money will also be spent to defend these \u201ccontingent ordinances,\u201d with no material benefit to anyone. The best that can be hoped for, from the gun prohibition point of view, is pure symbolism.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, it\u2019s imperative to hold the line on all laws that protect citizens from officials wanting to create a confusing patchwork of gun control, a long-fought battle for the Second Amendment community as a whole. Preemption vindicates the principles that laws should be consistent, understandable, and fairly applied. The alternative is a regime in which compliance \u2014 if it is practical at all \u2014 inevitably involves forfeiting one\u2019s own rights. A Minnesotan could travel from one end of the state to another, or he could exercise the full measure of the right to keep and bear arms recognized by state. But he could not do both at the same time.<\/p>\n

The enactment of a law is often the beginning of the legal battles, not the end. NRA-ILA\u2019s work involves not only making it easier for law-abiding citizens to carry firearms for self- protection but also providing a protective framework to ensure the law works as intended. The infringement on display in Minnesota is merely one example of many. That\u2019s why state preemption laws, and national efforts like H.R. 38, remain among ILA\u2019s highest priorities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Preemption Laws Make Lawful Carry Easier\u2026That\u2019 Why They\u2019re Under Attack by the Gun Control Industry. Preemption laws offer legal protection for gun owners, but only when they are enforced. The work to advance any pro-gun legislation is arduous, more so in Minnesota than most states. But passing a law is only half the battle. This … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government","category-rkba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=113546"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113546\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113547,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113546\/revisions\/113547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=113546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=113546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=113546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}