Minnesota Mayor Wants Semi-Automatic Ban of Some Firearms

Mark Chesnut - 

St. Paul’s Proposed Assault Weapon Ban Draws Fire Over State Law Violation

The decision by St. Paul, Minnesota, city councilors to push forward with a plan to ban so-called “assault weapons” and “high-capacity” magazines is drawing fire from a state gun owners’ group.

At their October 22 meeting, councilors introduced a proposal that would ban many common semi-automatic rifles and high-capacity magazines that hold more than 10 rounds within the city limits.

“We have to do something,” said St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, who is backing the proposal. “What we’re saying isn’t that you can’t make, sell, or own an assault rifle. What we’re saying is don’t carry it down Grand Avenue.”

Mayor Carter did not elaborate on whether carrying an “assault weapon” down Grand Avenue was currently a big problem in the city.

The main downfall of the proposal, which is likely to pass given the council’s support, is that it violates the state’s firearms preemption law, which was enacted for just such a purpose.

That law states: “The legislature preempts all authority of a home rule charter or statutory city, including a 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: (a) a governmental subdivision may regulate the discharge of firearms; and (b) a governmental subdivision may adopt regulations identical to state law. Local regulation inconsistent with this section is void.”

That’s just one of the sticking points with the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus (MGOC), which trashed the proposal in a recent action alert.