Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz isn't giving up on his push to ban so-called "assault weapons", but even some of his fellow Democrats are pouring cold water on the idea that they can pass a gun ban bill when lawmakers return to the state capitol for the 2026 session in February.
Walz is touting a poll that supposedly shows nearly 70% of Minnesotans back an "assault weapon" ban, but that poll is particularly vague when it comes to the specifics of any proposal. The governor himself hasn't provided any details of his gun ban plans, preferring instead to keep his language confined to bumper sticker slogans and gun control lobby talking points. But with a gun ban out of reach, at least for the moment, Walz is now issuing a couple of toothless executive orders aimed at firearms.
According to an announcement from the Governor’s Office, the orders will establish a Statewide Safety Council, produce data on the “costs of gun violence” and promote “education on safe storage.”
In the wake of the mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and School that killed two children and injured 30 other people, Walz, a Democrat, was keen on calling a special session to introduce stricter gun regulations. Those discussions faded when it became clear Republicans — who control the House floor — wouldn’t budge on measures to ban assault-style weapons or high-capacity magazines.
It's not just Republicans, despite the media's framing. There are at least two Democrat state senators who remain uncommitted to any prohibition on semi-automatic long guns, which would be enough to block passage in the Democrat-controlled upper chamber. Rep. Zach Stephenson, who's the top ranking Democrat in the Republican-controlled House, has publicly said that he doesn't expect any gun ban bill to get to Walz's desk next year.
Stephenson, Mohamed and Emery said it’s not all or nothing when it comes to gun violence prevention. The DFL lawmakers said the caucuses are working on other bills besides an assault weapons ban — namely addressing safe storage, ghost guns and binary triggers.
While Stephenson acknowledged that the DFL will have more “tools available” in the regular session, ultimately, he believes the DFL will “need to win an election in order to pass these bills.”
“That’s not to say we aren’t going to try this year,” he said. “We’re going to fight as hard as we can, but I want to be realistic about it and have people’s expectations correct.”
Minnesota Democrats are going to try to get something passed so they can declare victory, but that will still require buy-in from at least one Republican in the House.
Walz had promised "incredibly aggressive" executive actions on gun control, but the orders he's expected to sign today will accomplish virtually nothing, and will have no impact on the state's lawful gun owners. It's unclear whether Walz had originally planned on going further, but the MN Gun Owners Caucus has been upfront about its plans to sue the governor if he overstepped his limited powers.
Guess the Governor finally read our tweets… and realized he doesn’t actually have the power to do what he wanted to do. 🤷♂️
— MN Gun Owners Caucus (@mnguncaucus) December 16, 2025
Why? Because we helped pass a 2015 law that stripped the Governor’s emergency powers when it comes to gun control.
Now instead of sweeping gun bans or…
Even from a Democratic perspective Walz's push for a gun ban over the past few months has been downright pathetic. He first proclaimed he would bring lawmakers to the capitol for a special session on gun control regardless of the opposition, but meekly backed down when it become clear that he didn't have the votes for a gun ban. He then held a series of carefully scripted "town halls" with gun control activists like Gabby Giffords in an attempt to drum up support for his gun ban plans, but those efforts have done nothing to quell the opposition, particularly in rural Minnesota.
Now he's issuing executive orders that bear no resemblance to the "aggressive" action he promised, though I'm sure he'll put as positive a spin as he can on his actions today.
Walz is persistent, though, and we can expect Democrats to make gun control a major issue in the 2026 elections. Gun owners in the Land of 10,000 Lakes still need to be engaged in the months ahead; not only at the statehouse but in the 2026 elections as well. Walz is running for a third term as governor, and every seat in both chambers of the legislature are up for grabs as well.
Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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