On Wednesday, the Minnesota Supreme Court made a major decision that allows people in the state to carry ghost guns—homemade firearms without serial numbers—without facing criminal charges under current state law.
This ruling comes from a 2022 case in Fridley, where a Minnesota State Patrol officer responded to a car accident. During the investigation, the driver admitted to having a pistol in the car but said he didn’t have a permit to carry it. When officers searched the car, they found a ghost gun—a firearm that was built from parts and didn’t have a serial number.
The man was charged with two crimes: carrying a pistol without a permit and possessing a firearm without a serial number. He challenged the second charge, arguing that the state law used against him wasn’t clearly written and didn’t give police probable cause to charge him.
The charge was based on a Minnesota law from 1994 that makes it a crime to receive or possess a gun that is “not identified by a serial number.” However, the law didn’t clearly explain what kind of serial number it was referring to or whether the serial number had to meet federal standards.
Judge Paul Thissen, writing the majority opinion for the state’s Supreme Court, explained that Minnesota doesn’t have its own system for tracking firearms with serial numbers. Instead, the state law relies on federal law. According to the court, that means a person can only be charged under the Minnesota law if federal law also requires that the specific firearm have a serial number.
In the case of ghost guns, federal law currently does not require all of them to have serial numbers—especially those built for personal use, which aren’t made by licensed manufacturers. Because of this, the Minnesota court said the state law doesn’t apply to the ghost gun found in the car, and the charge for having a gun without a serial number must be dropped.
Judge Thissen made it clear that the court’s decision doesn’t mean ghost guns aren’t dangerous. In his opinion, he said that ghost guns “pose real dangers to public safety” and should be taken seriously. He also pointed out that many other states have already passed laws to deal with ghost guns, but Minnesota lawmakers haven’t acted yet.
Ghost guns are typically made by individuals who buy separate gun parts and put them together at home. Since they don’t go through licensed dealers and aren’t required to have serial numbers, they can’t easily be traced by law enforcement. That makes them attractive to people who want to avoid background checks or tracking.
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has reported a sharp increase in ghost gun use. Between 2016 and 2021, over 45,000 suspected ghost guns were recovered at crime scenes across the country. This number continues to grow as more people learn how to build these untraceable firearms using parts bought online.
The Minnesota Supreme Court’s ruling highlights a legal gap that some lawmakers and safety advocates believe needs to be fixed. Without a clear law from the state legislature, the court said it cannot expand the meaning of the 1994 law to include homemade ghost guns unless federal law also requires those guns to be marked with serial numbers.
In short, while ghost guns may be a serious concern, under current Minnesota law, it is not illegal to carry one simply because it lacks a serial number—unless federal law says otherwise. The court’s decision now puts pressure on Minnesota lawmakers to decide whether they want to update or change the law to specifically address ghost guns.
