Minnesota’s 2026 legislative session adjourned sine die at midnight on Sunday, May 18. Thanks to your relentless grassroots advocacy, Governor Walz’s gun control wish list was completely defeated.
Radical anti-sportsmen lawmakers threw every dirty trick in the political playbook at us this year. They repeatedly rebranded and hid massive gun control packages under shifting bill numbers to sneak them across the finish line undetected. Despite their non-stop maneuvering, our heritage stood firm. All key anti-hunting and firearm bans failed to pass.
Here is the breakdown of the major bills we monitored, fought, and successfully defeated together:
❌ Defeated: The “Gun Control Wish List” Omnibus Package
Anti-gun politicians spent the final days of the session frantically attempting a game of legislative shell games. They moved a massive gun control package through a series of different bill vehicles, including SF 3655, SF 4067, HF 5140, HF 5160, and HF 4081, hoping to slide it to Governor Walz’s desk in the midnight chaos. HF 4081 was specifically used as a cynical, backdoor procedural “end-run” through the House Judiciary Committee to bypass earlier deadlocked committee votes. Had this sweeping, recycled package passed, it would have devastated Minnesota hunters by enacting:
- A total ban on modern sporting and hunting rifles.
- A ban on standard-capacity ammunition magazines holding over 17 rounds.
- Bans on homebuilt firearms and common factory-installed trigger components.
- Severe expansions of “Red Flag” laws and limits on your fundamental right to self-defense.
❌ Defeated: Local Government Land & Building Carry Bans (SF 2320)
Anti-gun lawmakers tried to punch a massive hole in our state’s carry protections by introducing SF 2320. This bill would have authorized local city, county, and township governments to completely prohibit the carry of firearms, ammunition, or explosives on any property or land they owned or leased. Had this passed, local anti-hunting boards could have turned county-owned forests, public recreational sites, and leased outdoor tracts into gun-free zones with the stroke of a pen, turning law-abiding sportsmen into criminals overnight.
❌ Defeated: The Public Land Hunting Ban (HF 3433 & HF 3402)
HF 3433 was soundly defeated. This catastrophic bill would have reclassified common, modern hunting rifles as “military-style assault weapons” based on arbitrary aesthetic features. Even worse, the bill included a clause restricting any grandfathered, registered firearms strictly to private land or licensed ranges. This would have effectively banned the use of modern hunting rifles on Minnesota’s millions of acres of public hunting land. Companion bill HF 3402, which mandated the outright surrender and destruction of magazines holding more than 10 rounds with no grandfather clause, was also blocked.
❌ Defeated: Destruction of State Preemption (HF 3351 & SF 3549)
Anti-sportsmen groups tried to strip away Minnesota’s long-standing state preemption law through HF 3351 and SF 3549. Had it passed, it would have allowed local municipalities to pass their own individual firearm restrictions. This would have created an impossible, confusing patchwork of localized laws. It would turn a law-abiding hunter into a criminal just for crossing an invisible county or city line while transporting a firearm.
❌ Defeated: The Firearm & Ammunition Supplemental Tax (SF 5052)
Deep inside the Senate Omnibus Tax Bill (SF 5052), lawmakers attempted to push through Governor Walz’s supplemental budget request. This request sought to impose a punitive, hyper-inflated tax on all firearm and ammunition purchases. This blatant attempt to make shooting sports and hunting unaffordable for everyday Minnesotans was successfully stripped out before it went to the Senate floor, where the bill ultimately failed.
❌ Defeated: The Mandatory Firearm Insurance Mandate (HF 3938)
Part of Governor Walz’s formal “Gun Violence Prevention” package, HF 3938 was an attempt to price regular Minnesotans out of their outdoor heritage. This bill would have forced firearm owners to obtain a minimum of $100,000 in liability insurance just to exercise their constitutional rights. Law-abiding hunters who couldn’t or wouldn’t comply would face criminal penalties and hefty misdemeanor fines. This was a transparent effort to let private insurance companies act as financial gatekeepers to gun ownership, hitting lower-income sportsmen and the next generation of hunters the hardest.
Offense Win: Permanent Crossbow Hunting Secured!
While blocking the anti-gun onslaught was critical, we also went on the offensive and scored a monumental, permanent victory for Minnesota’s archery community:
✅ PASSED: Protection of Permanent Crossbow Hunting (HF 1531 / SF 1251)
Prior to HF 1531 / SF 1251, sportsmen were restricted from using crossbows during regular archery seasons by a “sunset clause” set to expire on June 30, 2026. To secure this victory, the House substituted HF 1531, for its Senate companion, SF 1251, which was moving faster. Governor Walz has officially signed SF 1251 into law, completely repealing the expiration date. This victory permanently secures your right to choose the archery equipment that best suits your needs to hunt deer, bear, turkey, and rough fish for generations to come!
The Power of Your Voice
This session was an exhausting, down-to-the-wire battle. The Sportsmen’s Alliance watched these bills daily, but it was your phone calls and emails that truly turned the tide.
While the session is over, our work is not. Animal extremists and anti-hunting and gun groups never clock out. They are already pivoting to the interim period, looking for ways to bypass the legislature through ballot initiatives or administrative rule changes that threaten our traditions and lifestyle. That is exactly why we must stay active, keep our Sportsmen’s Alliance membership current, and urge our fellow sportsmen to join you in the fight to preserve and protect our outdoor legacies of hunting, fishing, and trapping.
The Sportsmen’s Alliance guarantees hunting, fishing and trapping for the American sportsman now and forever. We’re there when sportsmen need us most. We are the only organization specifically created to protect the individual hunter, angler, and trapper – no matter the threat. We will never compromise when it comes to defending our way of life in the courts, in the legislatures, in the public square and at the ballot box. We make this promise to the American sportsman: we will never give up and never give in while proudly securing our future against those seeking to destroy our values, beliefs, and traditions. Stay connected to Sportsmen’s Alliance: Online, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
