A Ramsey County judge struck down Minnesota’s ban on binary triggers in a Monday ruling, saying it was passed unconstitutionally.
Judge Leonardo Castro agreed with the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus that the ban was enacted in violation of the Minnesota Constitution’s single-subject clause. His order prohibits the state from enforcing the ban.
The law banning binary triggers was included in a 1,400-page omnibus bill that was passed in a highly-controversial fashion in the final moments of the 2024 legislative session. The law defined a binary trigger as a “device that allows a firearm to shoot one shot on the pull of the trigger and a second shot on the release of the trigger without requiring a subsequent pull of the trigger.”
Republicans warned Gov. Tim Walz against signing the omnibus bill, saying it “was jammed through the legislature in mere minutes … in violation of House rules, Senate rules, Joint Rules of the Legislature, and the Constitution of the State of Minnesota.”
The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, represented by the Upper Midwest Law Center, filed suit in February of this year, saying the binary trigger ban was a “clear violation of the single subject provision of the constitution.”
“The 2024 Omnibus Bill violates the Single Subject and Title Clause, because, at best, it contains many non-germane parts, and at worst, has no identifiable common theme. Therefore, Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment must be granted, and the only question is which remedy is appropriate: wholesale invalidation of the 2024 Omnibus Bill or severance of the offending portion now before the Court,” Judge Castro wrote.
He opted to sever the binary trigger ban from the omnibus bill, rather than strike down the entire omnibus bill, out of respect for Minnesota Supreme Court precedent.
“But make no mistake, during the late hours of May 19, 2024, lawmaking did not ‘occur within the framework of the constitution,’” Castro concluded, referencing the disorderly passage of the omnibus bill.
“This Court respectfully suggests that if there has ever been a bill without a common theme and where ‘all bounds of reason and restraint seem to have been abandoned,’ this is it; and if there has ever been a time for the ‘draconian result of invalidating the entire law,’ that time is now.”
Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, celebrated the ruling as a win “for transparency and accountability for the legislature.”
“This decision is a reminder that the legislative process exists to put Minnesotans first, not to sidestep them,” Johnson said. “I applaud the court for reaffirming that the people’s business must be done in the light of day, not buried in last-minute sham hearings for mega-bills. Today’s district court ruling is a validation that the consequences for a total abuse of power are just beginning.”
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
