The city council in Edina, Minnesota was set to vote Tuesday night on a gun control ordinance banning the public carrying of so-called assault weapons, large capacity magazines, and "ghost guns", but instead Mayor James Hovland announced that the vote would be delayed until after a public hearing on the ordinance.
Tuesday's meeting already featured pushback from a number of gun-owning residents, who reminded the council that any ordinance dealing with firearms will run afoul of the state's preemption law, regardless of whether or not the ordinance contains language that it would not take effect until state law allows it to be enforced.
That criticism didn't sit well with Hovland, who said he was "really disappointed in the residents that came at the beginning [of the meeting] and seemed to think it was a leftist agenda to care about the fact that death by gun is the biggest killer of kids in our country."
The mayor claimed that seven children a day are "getting killed by gun violence," and said he doesn't see where that's "anything but a humanistic sort of agenda to care about."
Despite the mayor's strawman arguments, it's possible to care about the safety of our kids without a) believing gun control is the answer or b) supporting an ordinance that is unenforceable and a violation of state statute. And yes, it is lefties who are pushing these ordinances as a way to pressure lawmakers into adopting a statewide ban on commonly-owned firearms.
Hovland went on to say that, "the idea of having a chance to have a public hearing where all voices are heard and all voices matter is a good one."
It's pretty clear that Hovland and other gun control supporters weren't expecting the amount of pushback they've received from residents, and are hoping to rally support for the proposed ordinance at that upcoming public hearing. But concern over the proposed ordinance didn't just come from the gallery. It came from the dais as well, with City Manager Scott Neal telling the council that he and City Attorney Dave Kendall can "offer the ordinance to you but we can't endorse it because of the unenforceable nature, in our belief, of the ordinance. Particularly because it is preempted by state statute."
Kendall told the council, "As your attorney I cannot recommend that you pass an ordinance that is expressly preempted by state statute, but should you choose to do so I'd be happy to defend it and I hope it would be defensible." Of course, it's not Kendall's reputation on the line here. It's the reputation of the mayor and council members who have been warned by Second Amendment advocates and their own attorney that their ordinances is a lawsuit waiting to happen if it's approved.
St. Paul was the first Minnesota city to adopt an illegal ordinance regulating firearms, though it too contains a provision that the law won't take effect until or unless preemption is repealed. MN Gun Owners Law Center president Rob Doar, though, has repeatedly explained that the preemption law doesn't just prohibit local gun ordinances from being enforced, but prohibits their enactment as well.
.@ChenueHer @FOX9 Please stop saying state law prevents cities from "enforcing" their illegal ordinances. That’s legally & factually incorrect, and misleads the public. § 471.633 is a field-preemption statute: cities lack authority to enact such ordinances in the first place. pic.twitter.com/ThXyPY2KuM
— Rob Doar (@robdoar) November 19, 2025
The law center and MN Gun Owners Caucus have already filed suit over St. Paul's ordinance, and have vowed to do the same to any other municipality that decides to flout the state's preemption law.
Edina's city attorney has also cautioned against passing such an ordinance, noting that a non-binding resolution in support of a state level gun and magazine ban wouldn't draw a legal challenge and essentially arguing that such a step would save the city the expense of defending the indefensible.
On 10/20/2025, the Edina City Attorney Dave Kendall warned them not to do this.
— Rob Doar (@robdoar) November 10, 2025
"If a city passes an ordinance it knows to be preempted, that may give rise to litigation. If so, it will take staff time and taxpayer dollars to defend the lawsuit. Cities can accomplish the same… https://t.co/CzT3i1KUeo pic.twitter.com/ew74AxYSxY
The mayor and city council members have known for weeks that what they're trying to do is a grandstanding waste of time and money, but they refuse to listen to reason. Second Amendment advocates are clearly having an impact, though, and they need to keep up their grassroots lobbying in opposition to the proposed ordinance. Kudos to the MN Gun Owners Caucus for leading the charge against these petty tyrants and their willingness to flout the rule of law in order to do the bidding of the gun control lobby, and to gun owners in Edina and elsewhere who are standing up for public safety and our fundamental right to keep and bear arms.
