Bump stocks are still illegal in Minnesota and a state law passed this year banning binary triggers will go into effect Jan. 1, even after a U.S. Supreme Court decision undid a 2018 federal rule that effectively banned bump stocks.
That's because the decision focused on how the rule was made, and does not answer the question of whether bump stocks and other devices that help fire more rounds faster are protected by the Second Amendment. Unlike the federal rule, enacted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Minnesota's laws were passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor.
"I feel confident our laws will stand up," Gov. Tim Walz said Monday.
The federal rule, enacted during former President Donald Trump's administration, defined a semiautomatic firearm that was outfitted with a bump stock as an illegal automatic weapon. "A bump stock does not alter the basic mechanics of bump firing, and the trigger still must be released and reengaged to fire each additional shot," read the court's decision.
"It's a very technical decision," said Rob Doar, a lobbyist for the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, a gun rights group. He said the decision dealt more with the mechanics of how bump stocks and automatic gunfire work, and whether the ATF overstepped its authority in making the rule.
"It was kind of just a nerdy administrative law decision," Doar said. "Not anything about whether bump stocks are constitutionally protected."
"Friday's decision was not a Second Amendment case," said Sen. Heather Gustafson, DFL-Vadnais Heights, who carried the bill banning binary triggers that passed earlier this year along with provisions to add penalties for straw gun purchasers.
"Thankfully here in Minnesota, it doesn't affect our law," she said, "because ours was not based on a definition of machine gun."
While the court's decision does not change Minnesota law, Doar said it could make it easier to challenge other firearms policies set by executive-branch agencies like the ATF.
"From a gun rights perspective, it gives more weight to challenge executive gun action," he said.
The Legislature banned rapid-fire trigger activators in 2023, and binary triggers were banned with a bill signed into law this year.
Walz said he was proud of Minnesota's bans on bump stocks and binary triggers.
"There is no reason to have these things," he said.
