The Minnesota Constitution does not contain a provision regarding a right “to bear arms.”

The Minnesota Supreme Court has held that even if such a right did exist, it is not absolute. In a case challenging a a statute requiring a permit to carry a loaded handgun under a claimed “common law right to bear arms,” the Minnesota Supreme Court held, without deciding whether such a right existed, that “[w]hatever the scope of any common-law or constitutional right to bear arms, we hold that it is not absolute and does not guarantee to individuals the right to carry loaded weapons abroad at all times and in all circumstances.”¹

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1. In re Application of Atkinson, 291 N.W.2d 396, 399 (Minn. 1980).[↩]