The Minnesota Legislature recently passed gun legislation (Senate File Number 878) that took effect August 1, 2015. One part of the bill legalized firearm suppressors or silencers. These are defined under Minn. Stat. 609.66, Subd. 1a(c) as “any device for silencing, muffling, or diminishing the report of a portable firearm . . .” However, it’s still a felony to sell...
Deer Hunting Season with a Firearm Opens November 9th this year. Many people in Minnesota are unaware they are subject to a prohibition on possessing firearms. If you have ever been convicted or even adjudicated delinquent as a juvenile of any felony offense listed below, you may be subject to a lifetime prohibition on possessing firearms. THIS IS EVEN THOUGH...
A published decision came out today from the Minnesota Court of Appeals holding that a BB Gun (specifically, a .177- caliber pistol BB gun) is considered a “firearm” with respect to 609.165, subdivision 1b(a) (Ineligible Persons in Possession of a Firearm). The Court reasoned that the plain meaning of the term “firearm, ” as previously held by Minnesota Supreme Court,...
The federal government has made it a crime for any person who has been convicted of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” to ship or transport or possess any firearm or ammunition or receive any firearm or ammunition that has been shipped or transported. 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9). To be convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic assault under Minnesota law,...
If you have been convicted of or adjudicated delinquent as a juvenile of a felony-level “Crime of Violence,” this applies to you. Currently in Minnesota, offenders convicted or adjudicated delinquent of a crime listed under Minn. Stat. § 624.712, Subd. 5 (Crimes of Violence) have a lifetime prohibition on possessing firearms. While on the surface this seems like common sense,...
What types of crimes are considered “Crimes of Violence”? Crimes of violence include felony offenses involving the commission or attempt of the following (Minn. Stat. §624.712, subdivision 5): Murder, manslaughter, assault, or encouraging suicide; Using drugs that poison, stupefy, overpower, or numb to injure or make a crime easier (Minn. Stat. §609.235); Robbery, and 1st-3rd degree burglary; Stealing an automobile, weapon, controlled substance,...