Long Guns – Transporting

Minnesota Statutes, section 97B.045, prohibits transporting a firearm in a motor vehicle unless the firearm is unloaded and either:

1. Fully secured in a gun case expressly made for that  purpose, where the case is zipped, snapped, buckled, tied, or otherwise fastened (OR)
2. In the closed trunk of the motor vehicle (OR)
3. A handgun carried in compliance with a permit to carry (Minn. Stat. §§ 624.714 and 624.715).

Minnesota law does not require that the gun case be locked.

EXEMPTIONS

In 2009, the law was amended to also allow an uncased, unloaded rifle or shotgun to be transported in a motor vehicle, without any requirement for a permit to carry a pistol, in the following situations:

1. While at a shooting range, as defined under Minnesota Statutes, section 87A.01, subdivision 3, where the person has received permission from the lawful owner or possessor of the range to discharge firearms
2. While lawfully hunting on private or public land, including possessing a valid hunting license (if required)
3. While traveling to or from a site where the person intends to hunt lawfully that day or has hunted lawfully that day

EXCEPTIONS TO THE EXEMPTIONS:

A rifle or shotgun must be unloaded and either cased or in a closed trunk while being  transported in a motor vehicle:

1. Within Anoka, Hennepin, and Ramsey counties;
2. Within the boundary of a city with a population of 2,500 or more;
3. On school grounds; and
4. As regulated under statutes governing game refuges, shining of artificial lights, and use of night vision devices.

 

DEFINITION OF “UNLOADED”

For hunting and transport rules, Minnesota law defines “unloaded” as “without ammunition in the barrels and magazine, if the magazine is in the firearm” (Minn. Stat. § 97A.015, subd. 51). A muzzleloader has its own definition in the same subdivision.

In other words: no round in the chamber, and no ammunition in any magazine that is in the firearm.

In our opinion, to offer you the greatest protection from harassment, transport your firearm without ammunition in the same case as the firearm.