Blue-State City Just Had Its Local Gun Ban Trashed By Judge

A Minnesota gun-rights organization has fought a legal battle with St. Paul in state court for the past six months, arguing that the city unlawfully passed a ban on modern semiautomatic firearms.

The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus (MNGOC) sued the capital city in November after it passed the ordinance targeting so-called “assault weapons” — which St. Paul drafted to only take effect if the state’s firearms preemption law is repealed. The gun-rights organization argued that the city should not be allowed to keep the measure on the books due to the “profound legal uncertainty” that “chills the present exercise of their fundamental right to keep and bear arms,” according to the complaint.

“The St. Paul City Council knowingly passed Ordinance 25-65 (the ‘Ordinance’), creating a new chapter of the city’s legislative code, Chapter 225A, that extensively regulates and bans the possession, transport, and sale of a wide range of common firearms, magazines, and accessories, and further purports to ban the carrying of firearms by permit-holders in numerous public places,” the complaint says. “The City attempted to shield this illegal ordinance from judicial review by including a provision stating that it will only take effect upon the future repeal or amendment of the general preemption law.”

Minnesota District Judge Leonardo Castro rejected requests by the gun-rights group for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction. In May, he refused