It is legal to possess so-called "ghost guns" without a serial number in Minnesota.
After 14 months, that's the split-decision ruling from the Minnesota Supreme Court, which said current state law does not clearly restrict ghost gun possession if those guns do not have a serial number.
The case stemmed from a 2022 Fridley car crash where a state trooper found a gun without a serial number inside the car. The driver was charged, the charge was dismissed, and the case eventually made its way to the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
It was that decision the state's Supreme Court did not agree with.
"We are not convinced," the Court wrote in reference to the state's case. "First, the State offers no reasonable explanation of what the term 'serial number,' as used in the statute, means if it is not referring to the firearm serial number required under federal law. As noted, unlike other states, Minnesota has no independent state framework for assigning serial numbers to firearms."
Associate Chief Justice Paul Thissen writes the final decision on whether and how to regulate ghost guns rests with the Minnesota State Legislature, and not with the state's highest court.
"Personally manufactured firearms that are not required to have serial numbers pose real dangers to public safety and the proper regulation of such weapons is an important and complex public policy issue," state's the Court's opinion analysis. "Many states have regulated ghost guns through the legislative process, yet Minnesota has not acted. Indeed, in 2023, the Legislature had before it, but did not enact, a proposed prohibition on ghost guns. In the end, the final decision on whether and how to regulate ghost guns rests with the Legislature."