In Minnesota, persons convicted of a Felony “Crime of Violence” are subject to a lifetime firearms prohibition. A gross misdemeanor, misdemeanor, or stay of adjudication is not sufficient to trigger the prohibition. There must be a felony conviction. This includes a stay of imposition where the conviction is a felony conviction while on probation and then converts to a misdemeanor conviction if probation is successfully completed. See State v. Anderson, 733 N.W.2d 128 (Minn. 2007).
Minn. Stat. § 624.712 defines what constitutes a “Crime of Violence.” In 2014, the statute was amended to add Felony Domestic Assaults but removed Theft of a Motor Vehicle and Third-Degree Burglary. Unfortunately for individuals with older crimes, this amendment only applies proactively to offenses committed on or after August 1, 2014. See Minn. Stat. § 645.21.
Although ironic, this amendment functions to ban individuals who committed a Motor Vehicle Theft twenty years ago from possessing a firearm but allows an individual who committed the same crime within last four years the right to do so freely, without restrictions.