Having failed to get traction for his gun ban in the legislature, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) is now suggesting a ban on the “sale and possession of assault rifles in the state” via constitutional amendment.
“Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz proposed a new option Saturday for addressing gun violence: A constitutional amendment to ban the sale and possession of assault rifles in the state,” MinnPost reported. “It requires a majority of the Legislature to vote yes to putting a ban on the ballot, and then a majority of voters approving the amendment.”
Breitbart News noted that Walz pushed for an “assault weapons” ban after the August 27, 2025, Annunciation Catholic School shooting, then said it was “not acceptable” that Republican members of the legislature were refusing to “vote on gun bans.”
He tried doubling down on the GOP lawmakers, pressing them to at least hold a “floor vote” on the gun prohibition legislation.
But his gun control push did not get traction and now he is floating the idea of a constitutional amendment to accomplish the things the legislature would not do.
“The state would have the voters take a vote because we know it’s super popular,” Walz told reporters at the MinnPost Festival in downtown Minneapolis on Saturday.
Walz did not mention that the August 27 Annunciation Catholic School attacker used three guns in his attack — a rifle, a shotgun, and a handgun. How does banning one of three guns used in an attack prevent an attack from occurring?
Moreover, California has had a ban on “assault weapons” since the late 1980s, yet California led the nation in “active shooter incidents” in 2021 and 2023.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
