Your rights don’t defend themselves. You do.

No party and no election protects your rights. People who show up do. Not one gun control bill passed in 2025 or 2026 because gun owners sent hundreds of thousands of emails, made tens of thousands of calls, and filled hearing rooms. The 2027 session starts January 12 with a Legislature that has promised a gun ban. The work is the same as it was before the election, only more urgent.

“The work you need to do tomorrow to protect your civil rights is exactly the same as the work you needed to do yesterday.”

Sarah Hauptman, in The work is the same as it was yesterday

If you have five minutes

1. Sign up for action alerts. We email and text when a bill moves and your call matters most. Everything else on this page starts here.
2. Find your legislators. You have one state senator and one state representative. Save their names, phone numbers, and email addresses now, before session starts.
3. Know what’s coming. Read what to expect in 2027 and bookmark the Bill Tracker.
4. Follow our YouTube channel. Bill breakdowns, hearing highlights, and quick updates from the Capitol all session.

When an alert comes in

Act the same day. Hearings are often announced just days ahead, and written testimony is usually due before the hearing.

• Use the Action Center. It sends your message to the right legislators in under two minutes.
• Then call. A call carries more weight than an email. Say your name, that you live in the district, the bill number, and how you want them to vote. Be brief and polite. Staff keep a tally.
• Forward the alert to one friend who shoots, hunts, or carries.

Who to contact

Always contact your own senator and representative: they answer to you. When a bill is in committee, the committee members matter most, and the chair decides whether a bill gets a hearing at all. Our alerts tell you which committee has the bill, and the Action Center can reach every member at once.

What to say on the phone

Hi, my name is [name], and I live in [city], in the senator's district.
I'm calling to ask the senator to vote NO on [bill number],
which would [one line: ban my rifle / register what I own / ...].
I'm a [hunter / competitor / parent / gun owner], and this matters to me.
Could you tell me how the senator plans to vote? Thank you.

Leave the same message on voicemail if no one answers. Offices count calls by position, so a short, polite call counts as much as a long one.

What to write

Subject: Please vote NO on [bill number]

Senator [name],

I live in [city] in your district, and I'm asking you to vote NO on [bill number].
[Two or three sentences in your own words: who you are, why you own firearms,
and how this bill would affect you.]

Please let me know how you plan to vote.

[Your name]
[Street address, city, ZIP]

Include your address so the office knows you’re a constituent. Your own words beat a copied form letter.

Testify, in writing or in person

Written testimony goes into the official record that every committee member receives. Committees set a deadline, often the day before the hearing, and we post the instructions and deadline in each hearing alert and on the hearing’s page.

• Keep it to one page. Say who you are, where you live, and why the bill matters to you.
• Your own story beats talking points: a hunter, a competitor, a parent, a woman who carries, a veteran.
• Name the bill number, and ask the committee to vote no.

Show up

Empty seats at a hearing tell legislators nobody cares. A full room tells them otherwise. Hearings are open to the public. Arrive early, wear a Caucus shirt or hat if you have one, and be respectful. The room is watching how gun owners behave.

• Committee hearings: we post every hearing on gun bills on the 2027 session page, with the time and room.
• The Second Amendment Day of Action: gun owners from across Minnesota at the Capitol together, meeting their own legislators face to face. We’ll announce the date through our action alerts. If you go to one thing all session, go to this.
• Meet your legislators at home. Town halls and district events reach legislators away from the Capitol crowd. A respectful conversation with one who disagrees with you is worth more than a hundred angry comments online.

Visiting the Capitol

• Where: committee hearings are in the State Capitol, the State Office Building (House), and the Minnesota Senate Building. The hearing alert gives the room.
• Arrive early. Big hearings fill up, and overflow rooms fill next.
• Carrying: a Minnesota permit holder may carry a pistol at the Capitol complex with no notice required. Long guns aren’t allowed in the buildings. See Carrying at the State Capitol complex.
• Be the most respectful people in the room. No outbursts, and thank the legislators and staff, even the ones who vote against us. Reporters and legislators notice.
• Stop by your legislator’s office while you’re there, even for five minutes with a staffer.

Fund the fight

Testimony, alerts, the Action Center, and lawsuits all cost money, and donations drop off when people feel safe. Single-issue groups like ours are only as strong as their members.

• Join the Caucus, or renew. Members keep us at the Capitol every day of session.
• Become a Second Amendment Defender with a monthly gift, so the fight is funded all year, not just in a crisis.
• Support the Law Center, which takes unconstitutional laws to court. Gifts may be tax-deductible.

Organize where you live

• Volunteer at gun shows, county fairs, and events.
• Bring us to your club or range. Request a speaker.
• Talk to your neighbors. The Grassroots Action Toolkit has handouts and guides for calm, persuasive conversations with people who don’t already agree.
• Bring someone new. Take a friend shooting for the first time, then bring them to a hearing.
• Write a letter to the editor of your local paper when a bill is in the news. Keep it short, local, and personal. Legislators read their hometown papers.
• Share our posts from Facebook, X, and YouTube, and join our MN Gun Owners Facebook group.
• Watch your city and county. If a local government posts a gun ban or passes an ordinance that breaks state law, report it to us.

The ballot box

Every seat in the Minnesota House is on the ballot every two years, and primaries decide many races before November. Check our grades and endorsements before you vote, and remember how your legislators voted when they ask for your vote again.

Play the long game

We may lose ground in a session. We’ve won it back before, at the Capitol and in court. Complaining in comment sections changes nothing; calls, testimony, and full hearing rooms do. Take a breath if you need one after the election, and then get to work. We’ll see you at the Capitol.