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MN AG seeks to restore state ban on people under 21 carrying guns
In the July decision Ellison is challenging, the three-judge appeals court panel cited a 2022 landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that expanded gun rights.
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison asked a federal appeals court on Tuesday to consider restoring a state law that bans people ages 18 to 20 from getting permits to carry guns in public.
In a petition for rehearing with the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, Ellison asked the full court to review a ruling earlier this month by a three-judge panel affirming a lower court decision that Minnesota’s law is unconstitutional. The lower court sided with the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, which sued to overturn the law, and concluded the Second Amendment guarantees the rights of young adults to bear arms for self-defense.
Ellison argued the panel failed to consider the impact of a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June to upholding a federal gun control law that is intended to protect victims of domestic violence.
“I believe the court erred earlier this month in ruling that the Second Amendment requires Minnesota to allow open carry by youth as young as 18,” Ellison said in a written statement. “Respectfully, I believe the court reached the wrong conclusion on the facts and the history, especially in light of the Supreme Court’s recent, common-sense decision to uphold a federal law criminalizing gun possession by domestic abusers.”
In the July decision Ellison is challenging, the three-judge appeals court panel cited a 2022 landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that expanded gun rights.
That decision led U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez to reluctantly strike down the Minnesota law in March 2023. She also granted the state’s emergency motion for a stay, keeping the ban in place until the state’s appeal could be resolved.
Her ruling was an example of how the 2022 Supreme Court case, known as the Bruen decision, upended gun laws nationwide, dividing courts and sowing confusion over what restrictions can remain in force.
The Bruen decision, which was the conservative-led high court’s biggest gun ruling in more than a decade, held that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense. And it established a new test for evaluating challenges to gun restrictions, saying courts must now ask whether restrictions are consistent with the country’s “historical tradition of firearm regulation.”
In his petition, Ellison requested that all the judges of the 8th Circuit, rather than a three-judge panel, rehear the case. He said said many other states have laws similar to the one Minnesota tried to enact.
Minnesota had argued that Second Amendment protections should not apply to 18- to-20-year-olds, even if they’re law-abiding. The state also said people under the age of 21 aren’t competent to make responsible decisions about guns, and that they pose a danger to themselves and others as a result.
But the appeals court said the plain text of the Second Amendment does not set an age limit, so ordinary, law-abiding young adults are presumed to be protected. And it said crime statistics provided by the state for the case don’t justify a conclusion that 18- to 20-year-olds who are otherwise eligible for carry permits present an unacceptable risk of danger.
MINNEAPOLIS — How much do you know about your grandma’s upbringing?
“The Stories From My Grandmother’s Hands” is a book that aims to show young Black children how their grandmas lived through beautiful illustrations and descriptions.
KARE 11 News at Noon shared more on Thursday about the impact that this book will have.
Gary Peterson and his friends are collecting donations to help people in their community.
ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. — A St. Louis Park pumpkin display is raising money for their local food shelf.
Gary Peterson started carving and painting three pumpkins over a decade ago. It’s now grown to over 100.
“I’ve heard people say they’ve come from Hutchinson,” he said.
Peterson along with two of his neighbors have spent the last 14 years growing their display, turning it into a neighborhood event.
“It’s been incredible, I just can’t believe how much this has expanded,” he said. “We did it just because we like to and then people were asking to give us money to cover the cost.”
The trio refused to take people’s money, but then one of them had an idea.
“My neighbor, Steve Leensvaart, just mentioned how about we just do it for the STEP program and the STEP program is our local food shelf in St. Louis Park,” he said.
So, they started to collect donations to help families in need. They’ve raised hundreds of dollars and donated hundreds of pounds of food over the last few years, carving for a cause.
“It is more gratifying every year,” Peterson said.
He estimated they have over 100 unique pumpkins in their yard. They’ve created the displays and come up with new family-friendly concepts for people to enjoy. Peterson said about 30 of their neighbors carved their own pumpkins to be put on display, and it’s been a big hit.
“It’s great. In the last couple of years, it’s turned into more of a neighborhood event,” said Sarah Durch.
“We love this Halloween display, we come every year to see it. We love that the whole community gets involved to craft and carve the pumpkins,” said Jami Gordon-Smith.
“The shading and the details are unbelievable,” said Elizabeth Hanson.
Hanson hopes to take her 2-year-old son trick or treating for the first time but is worried the cold temperatures might keep them indoors.
“We’re going trick or treating hopefully,” she said. “He’s going to be a firefighter, but we’re probably going to have sweatshirts maybe like two pairs of sweatpants underneath. We’re going to be bundled up.”
Gordon-Smith said her family will be out Halloween night no matter the weather.
“Halloween only comes once a year, so you really have to take advantage and enjoy the evening no matter what the weather brings,” she said. “Guess it’s not totally unheard of in Minnesota to have a cold Halloween, but we are going to try and modify and do a lot of layers underneath our costumes and then we might add some hats and maybe some warmer socks.”
Durch also isn’t surprised they’re in for another chilly night.
“Well, what would Halloween be without Minnesota cold? I feel like every time you plan a costume you have to plan for how you can make this work if it’s snowing,” she said.
Peterson said they will have a bonfire and some hot chocolate and cider on Halloween to keep trick-or-treaters warm while they look at their pumpkins.
Click here to learn where you can see the pumpkins and how you can donate.
Jeremy Jourdain was 17 when he was last seen on Halloween 2016.
BEMIDJI, Minn. — The search for Jeremy Jourdain, who was last seen on Halloween in 2016, continues now eight years later.
Jourdain was last seen at a family member’s house in Bemidji, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs. He left the residence near the 500 block of Wood Avenue after midnight and while people followed him, no one was able to find him.
Jourdain was 17 at the time.
Officials said he was wearing a blue and grey sweatshirt, and blue jeans when last seen. He is Native American and is described as 6 foot 5 and 175 pounds.
If you have any information on his whereabouts, you can contact the Bemidji Police Department at (218) 333-9111. Tips can also be sent to 1-833-560-2065, or you can email ojs_mmu@bia.gov.
