On election day 2015, we were contacted by a supporter who had seen a “guns banned” signed at a Ramsey County polling place in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Further research showed that the Ramsey County Elections Reference Guide stated that firearms were prohibited in polling places.
Such regulation is clearly pre-empted under Minnesota statutes under MN 624.714, MN 471.633, and MN 624.717.
We chose to take on this fight to ensure that a clear message is sent to cities, counties, and other government entities in Minnesota about honoring the Second Amendment.
TIMELINE
- 11/05/2015: Initial letter to Ramsey County Elections
- 11/06/2015: Response from Ramsey County Elections
- 11/06/2015: Ramsey County Ordinance 2013-214
- 12/21/2015: Demand Letter from MN Gun Owners Caucus General Counsel Ben Rust to Ramsey County
- 02/12/2016: Response from Ramsey County Attorney’s Office on changes that they will make in order to be compliant with state law
OUTCOME
In January, our General Counsel began a dialogue with the Civil Division of the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office to resolve this issue. Ramsey County agreed to take a number of actions as a result of these discussions:
- The signs would be revised to remove the anti-gun images and wording
- The training material for election judges would be revised to remove the references to weapons in polling places
You can read the full response, in writing, from the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office here.