St. Paul backs ban on assault-style guns in public, but rules remain symbolic unless state law changes

St. Paul’s City Council approved a ban on public possession of assault-style weapons, large-capacity magazines and binary triggers, as well as a handful of other firearms regulations — in theory, anyway.

In practice, nothing will happen. That’s because Minnesota state law doesn’t allow local governments to pass their own gun bans.

But St. Paul wants to have an ordinance on the books in case the state ever undoes its preemption, and to make a statement about gun violence.

Mayor Melvin Carter and other metro mayors tried to persuade the Legislature to lift the state ban on local gun control after the Annunciation Church shooting in Minneapolis in August, but without agreement between Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and Republicans in the state Senate, nothing came of it.

All seven City Council members voted in favor of the measure Wednesday afternoon, and Carter is expected to sign it.

Soon after, a prominent gun-rights group filed a lawsuit seeking to block the access.

Nothing right now.

It would also be a misdemeanor to have magazines containing 20 or more rounds, and to possess a binary trigger, which fires on both pull and release, or other devices that increase the rate of fire.

Minnesota tried to ban binary triggers in 2024 after one was used in the shooting deaths of police officers in Burnsville and Fargo, but a judge struck down that law this year.

The rules would also require firearms to have serial numbers, effectively banning “ghost guns” that have had the serial numbers removed, or firearms assembled from kits that do not have serial numbers.

There would be exceptions in the law for older guns that never had serial numbers and for owners of any of these firearms or devices passing through St. Paul, so long as the guns are unloaded and stored in a locked container.

St. Paul would also make it illegal to bring firearms into most city-owned spaces, such as libraries, rec centers, parks or the Como Zoo.

For gun rights supporters, even a theoretical law goes too far.

“This ordinance is nothing but performative BS that is prohibited under the state’s preemption law — and it’s completely unconstitutional,” wrote Bryan Strawser, chairman of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, in a public comment.

But gun control advocates said even sending a message was worthwhile for their cause.

“These types of local efforts send a simple message to the state: lead or let us lead,” said Chad Kuyper, of the Minnesota chapter of gun-control advocacy group Moms Demand Action.

Even though the ordinance will have no immediate effect, the Gun Owners Caucus filed a lawsuit to block it Wednesday, just after the council vote. In the complaint, the group called the contingency a “legal gimmick” and said it creates uncertainty.

City Attorney Lyndsey Olson said St. Paul is ready to defend the ordinance, because it is not uncommon for laws to be contingent on other laws or rulings.

Olson compared the dormant ordinance to state abortion restrictions that only took effect when the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling was overturned.