Suppressors Legalized in MN
Governor Mark Dayton signs into law the “Suppressor Bill”
It is official! Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton has signed SF878, a public safety omnibus bill, making it legal for Minnesotans to own suppressors. This is not an immediately enacting law though. Our current ban on suppressors will come to an end on July 1st, 2015.
This bill that Dayton signed covers more than just suppressors though. In total, it encompasses five Pro-2nd Amendment changes.
- Emergency Powers Limited – This protects citizens’ rights and their rights to own firearms during unpredictable emergency situations like during Hurricane Katrina when firearms were seized from citizens (effective August 1st, 2015).
- Reciprocity for Lawful Carry – MN in the future will share greater acceptance and reciprocity of Carry Permits from other states (effective July 1st, 2015).
- Interstate Purchasing Rights for Long Guns – The vocabulary for purchasing long guns in other states (as a MN resident) has been revised to more simply state that MN residents can purchase long guns in any state, and not just adjoining states (effective August 1st, 2015).
- Notification of Lawful Carry at the State Capitol Reformed – Previously, in order to lawfully carry a pistol on State Capitol grounds you needed to submit papers for “notification” to the MN Dept. of Public Safety before doing so. Now, you will be able to lawfully carry on State Capitol grounds without the need to submit redundant paperwork (effective July 1st, 2015).
- Suppressors Legalized – MN residents will be able to purchase and own suppressors, silencers, mufflers, etc. for their firearms (effective July 1st, 2015). The MN ban on hunting with a suppressor is over (effective August 1st, 2015).
A great deal of thanks goes out to our representatives who pushed for this to happen. This bill was championed by Rep. Tony Cornish (R) of MN District 23B and co-authored by our following representatives: Mark Anderson (R) 09A, Jim Newberger (R) 15B, Jim Nash (R) 47A, Eric Lucero (R) 30B, and Dan Fabian (R) 01A.
There were multiple organizations that were great advocates of this bill as well which included the MN Gun Owner’s Civil Rights Alliance (GOCRA), MN Gun Owner’s Political Action Committee (GOPAC), and the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA).
Finally, we should give thanks where thanks is due to our Governor Mark Dayton. One year ago he vetoed a similar bill denying us the right to own suppressors, but this year he signed SF878 into law.
I know there are going to be lots of happy prairie dog hunters out there…
And winter fox and coyote hunters…
And likely deer hunters…
And range enthusiasts…
And squirrel assassins…
And me…
Basically everyone!
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Any change on second chance felons being able to use or purchase firearms
That is something I would have to research a little further… I do not believe any changes have been made in regards to that from the legislation that was passed today.
Will the law be similar to that of north Dakotas? Will there be a several month wait? What do we think the availability of suppressors will be?
Right now the availability of suppressors is fair… there are a lot out there in various brands, but if you’re looking for a specific one you might need to wait a bit.
Traditionally, there is a 2-4 month wait for a distributor to ship to your local gun store once you pay for and order one (the distributor has to submit paperwork and wait for approval before any suppressor can move). If you’re buying one off of the shelf then you can do your “4473 type” paperwork for the the NFA item (the suppressor). This background check will similarly take about 2-4 months. So if you need to order one it could be 8 months on the long side. If you buy one straight off of the shelf it could be as long as 4 months.
In regards to ND, I am not brushed up or fluent on their laws so I am honestly not sure. I’m sorry.
Hope that answers most all of your questions!