Minnesota Gun Permits, Background Checks, and Red Flag Orders

Permits to Carry

Minnesota is a "shall-issue" state for permits to carry a pistol: if you meet the eligibility requirements and aren't disqualified, the sheriff must issue the permit. Requirements include firearms training and meeting the eligibility criteria. A permit allows carrying a pistol (openly or concealed) in most public places, though private property owners and certain locations can prohibit firearms. (Eligibility, historically limited to those 21 and older, has been the subject of recent litigation extending it to some 18–20-year-olds.)

Universal Background Checks (2023)

This is one of the biggest recent changes. As of August 1, 2023, Minnesota requires a background check for many private transfers of pistols and semiautomatic military-style assault weapons — not just sales by licensed dealers. In practical terms:

• A private buyer of a pistol or such a weapon must generally hold a permit to purchase or permit to carry (which includes a background check), or the sale must go through a licensed dealer.
• Both parties complete a record of transfer with the weapon's serial number, ID copies, and a sworn statement that the buyer isn't prohibited — and must keep it for ten years.
• There are exceptions, including certain transfers between immediate family members and temporary loans (for example, loaning a gun while hunting together).
• Transfers of ordinary (non-military-style) semiautomatic long guns between private individuals are not subject to this background-check requirement.

What this means for you: Casually selling or handing over a pistol to a friend without going through the proper process can now itself be a crime. The rules are specific, and the exceptions are narrow.

Who Is Ineligible

You won't qualify for a permit — and you're barred from possession — if you fall into a prohibited category, which includes people convicted of crimes of violence or felonies, certain mental-health commitments, certain recent drug offenses or chemical-dependency commitments, people subject to certain domestic-violence orders, people subject to an Extreme Risk Protection Order, and others. (Our gun crimes page covers these prohibited-person categories in detail.)

Transfers to Ineligible People

It's a crime to transfer a pistol or semiautomatic military-style assault weapon to someone you know is ineligible, or to recklessly furnish a firearm to someone in conscious disregard of a known substantial risk they'll use it in a violent felony. Making a false statement on a transfer application is also a crime.

Red Flag Law: Extreme Risk Protection Orders (Effective 2024)

Minnesota's "red flag" law took effect January 1, 2024 (Minn. Stat. § 624.7171 and following). It allows a court to issue an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) temporarily prohibiting a person from possessing firearms if they pose a significant danger to themselves or others.

How ERPOs Work

• Who can petition: law enforcement, family or household members, and city or county attorneys (and certain guardians).
• Emergency orders can be issued quickly and last a short period (on the order of two weeks) until a full hearing.
• Final orders can last longer (roughly six months to a year) and may be renewed.
• A person subject to an ERPO becomes a prohibited person and must not purchase or possess firearms while it's in effect; the order is entered in the national background-check system.

If You're Facing an ERPO

An ERPO is a serious matter that affects your firearm rights and is entered in national databases — but you have the right to be heard. At the hearing, you can contest the petition and present your side. Because emergency orders are issued based on one side's sworn statement, the hearing is your opportunity to challenge the factual basis. What this means for you: respond promptly and get counsel involved early; the procedural deadlines and the evidentiary showing both matter.

Other Regulated Areas

• Serial numbers: it's illegal to obliterate a firearm's serial number or to possess a gun with an obliterated or missing one.
• Machine guns, conversion devices, short-barreled shotguns: generally prohibited.
• Storage around children: negligent storage allowing a child to access a loaded firearm is a gross misdemeanor.
• Local preemption: Minnesota law broadly preempts local firearm regulation, though private property owners retain rights to restrict firearms on their premises.

Key Terms

• Shall-issue: The sheriff must issue a carry permit to eligible, non-disqualified applicants.
• Permit to purchase / transferee permit: The permit (with background check) needed for many private gun purchases.
• Record of transfer: The required documentation for a covered private transfer.
• ERPO: Extreme Risk Protection Order — the "red flag" order temporarily barring possession.