Klobuchar Pushes Gun Ban, SCOTUS Looms

Minnesota's incoming governor wants a rifle ban on the books before the Supreme Court decides whether rifle bans are legal at all.

Amy Klobuchar, who won Minnesota's governorship on November 3, told reporters the very next day that a "gun safety bill" would be a top priority for her administration. "The gun safety bill is going to get passed," she said at her November 4 press conference.

What's new: Klobuchar is reviving Senate File 4067, a bill that passed the Minnesota Senate 34-33 in May 2026 but died without a House vote. The bill would have:

• Banned retail sales of firearms classified as "semiautomatic military-style assault weapons"
• Capped magazines at 17 rounds for new sales
• Required state certification, renewed every three years, for existing owners of covered firearms and magazines, with criminal penalties for noncompliance

With Democrats now holding the governor's office and both legislative chambers, the political roadblock that killed SF 4067 is gone.

The legal problem: On December 2, the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Viramontes v. Cook County and Grant v. Higgins, consolidated cases asking whether the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect AR-15s and similar semiautomatic rifles. The Court already held in Heller that the Second Amendment covers weapons in common lawful use, and reaffirmed in Bruen that gun laws must be justified by historical tradition, not modern policy preference. A ruling for the plaintiffs could gut rifle bans nationwide, including whatever Minnesota passes.

Klobuchar hasn't said she'd defy an adverse ruling. She also hasn't waited to see one before pushing the bill through.

What they're saying: The NRA has already drawn a line. John Commerford, head of the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action, didn't mince words:

"Governor-elect Klobuchar's promise to ram through gun control in Minnesota is a direct assault on the constitutional rights of law-abiding Minnesotans... if Klobuchar gets her way, we will see her in court."

What to watch: If Minnesota passes a rifle and magazine ban before the Supreme Court rules in Viramontes and Grant, the law lands in an immediate legal gray zone — enforceable today, potentially unconstitutional tomorrow. Owners asked to certify firearms under a three-year renewal scheme could be registering guns under a law the Court strikes down before the first renewal cycle hits.

The bottom line: A legislative majority doesn't override the Constitution. Minnesota gun owners are about to find out whether Klobuchar's bill survives contact with the Supreme Court — or whether St. Paul spent its political capital on a law with an expiration date.