Minnesota Democrats wasted no time flexing their legislative muscle in the opening days of the 2026 session, dropping a trio of gun control bills that strike at the heart of the Second Amendment: assault weapons bans targeting popular rifles like AR-15s, high-capacity magazine restrictions, and direct assaults on concealed carry rights. This isn’t some fringe wishlist—it’s a coordinated push from the DFL majority, building on their 2023 red flag laws and permit-to-purchase schemes that already turned the Land of 10,000 Lakes into a patchwork of gun owner headaches. With Governor Tim Walz still riding high on his VP shortlist buzz, these bills signal a bolder agenda, likely eyeing federal mimicry if blue waves crest nationally.

The clever play here? Framing rifles and mags as tools of mass violence while nibbling at carry rights under the guise of public safety, ignoring how Minnesota’s already stringent universal background checks and waiting periods haven’t stopped crime waves in Minneapolis. Data from the Crime Prevention Research Center shows permitless carry states like neighboring Wisconsin have lower violent crime rates, yet Dems dismiss that as they chase New York’s model—where assault weapon bans gutted legal ownership without denting criminal arsenals. For the 2A community, this is a wake-up call: expect legal battles echoing Bruen, with groups like the NRA and SAF gearing up to shred these in court, but the real fight is at the ballot box. If gun owners sit this out, Minnesota could become the next Illinois, where common-use arms are relics.

Implications ripple far beyond the Gopher State—these bills test national waters post-2024 elections, probing how far courts will let sensitive places expand to swallow public carry. Pro-2A Minnesotans, rally your reps and flood hearings; this is incrementalism in action, one mag limit at a time. Stay vigilant, armed, and informed—our rights aren’t up for grabs.