Minnesota Legislature considers changes to "red flag" gun law advocates say will make it more effective

Proposals advancing in the Minnesota Legislature would make changes to the state's two-year-old "red flag" gun law to temporarily suspend someone's access to firearms if a judge finds they're a risk to themselves or others. 

The law took effect in January 2024 and allows certain people — like family members, county or city attorneys and chief law enforcement officers — to file the petition, known as an extreme risk protection order. In the first year of implementation, 138 extreme risk protection order petitions were filed, according to state court data. That more than doubled in 2025 with 314 petitions, and so far in the first two months of this year, there are 60 cases.

Most of the time — in all but 4% of instances — a judge granted the request, the data shows. And police file a large majority of the petitions.

"I think that's why we're seeing the increase because I think it's a tool that's being successful," said Jay Henthorne, chief of the Richfield Police Department and president of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association representing 300 top cops across the state. 

The association backs a bill moving through both chambers at the State Capitol that would enhance the existing law. Among the proposed changes: allowing extreme risk protection orders for up to 5 years, instead of the current maximum of one year, in certain circumstances, requiring judges to consider petitions for emergency relief, even after business hours or on weekends, and removing an old provision that said law enforcement must reimburse a person the "fair market value" of any guns surrendered because the order is in place. 

The latter can be a significant cost burden on cash-strapped police departments operating on city budgets, Henthorne said. 

The proposal would also expand who qualifies as a family member to align with the definition in state law for filling protection orders for domestic abuse and it would authorize any member of a law enforcement agency — not just chiefs or sheriffs — to file the petition. 

"Those officers can make the petition right there and expedite the process," Henthorne said in an interview with WCCO on Monday. "And so we feel that once they're there, it's easier to do it on site, get the paperwork done, get the petition to the judge, and then at that point, hopefully get the ERPO signed and take care of the situation."

The measure is clear for a full vote in the tied Minnesota House, which signals bipartisan support since it needed both Republicans' and Democrats' backing to advance out of committee. The DFL-led Senate advanced a similar measure last week through a key panel.

"At the core, this is legislation that has saved many lives and prevented many tragedies," said Rep. Cedrick Frazier, DFL-New Hope, during a House hearing last week. "What you're seeing with these modifications is not a change in the direction from what we're doing, but this is making the bill stronger so we can save more lives."

The initial red flag law cleared the Legislature when Democrats had total control of the Capitol in 2023. At the time, Republicans did not back the plan and opponents argued the measure deprived people of due crisis and failed to address the needs of individuals in a crisis.

In a letter provided to a Senate committee last week, the National Rifle Association renewed its strong opposition to what it called the "gun confiscation" law and the changes proposed to it.

"Proponents claim [extreme risk protection orders] are intended to make us all safer, however they have fallen short of those stated goals," said Brian Gosch, Minnesota state director for the NRA. "These red flag laws have done nothing to stop violence in Minnesota that we have seen in the headlines since their passage just a few years ago."