Second Amendment Suspended During Minnesota Deer Season ??

B

b00

New member
I received a rude awakening this weekend. I purchased a new pistol (9mm) and went out in my yard to test fire it and sight it in. After firing 100rnds the Game warden showed up and gave me a written warning that I broke the law for possessing a firearm outside of MY HOUSE in MY OWN yard (I own a farm in a rural area). He explained to me that in Minnesota during deer season you can not posses a firearm other than a 22 rim fire or a shotgun with bird shot outside of your home or cased and locked in your car trunk. If I had a deer license I could have a shotgun with slugs, but not a rifle because of the zoning nor a pistol with less power than a 357. So even if I had a deer license I still could not shoot my 9mm at paper targets in my yard. What type of crap is this where my rights are limited in my own yard? This just does not seem right that they can suspend my firearm rights in my own yard because it is deer season. Does any one have any info on this? Can this be right that my rights are taken away because of deer season?
 
this kinda crap really pisses me off... i probably would have gotten a ticket, as the warden would have received several choice words.
 
First, go online and look up the statute used on the warning notice. If he issued a written warning, the code and section number should be on it too.

If that fails, try to look up on your state's website to see if there is such a law. Failing this, contact the local State F&G office and inquire. What you want is confirmation of the law along with the code (F&G, Penal, Health-Safety,etc) and section number. This way, you can see what the law really says.

This would not be the first time that some official have overreached his authority by mis-interpreting a statute. Nor the first time a citizen ran afoul of the law because he'd never heard of it.
 
Minnesota is kinda the California of the Midwest. Allot of stupid laws that make no sense, higher taxes, a government that is desperate for money because of their own incompetence. (Bridges for Stadiums anyone?)

I have no idea of the laws, but that seems very unreasonable.

/Bitter because I can't take my suppressors to the MN range I belong to.
 
I've been meaning to post about this! The Sunday before last (second day of deer season), a bunch of my buddies came out and shot at my place - we've got a 20 acre lot with a decent sand pit to use as a backstop. Everyone showed up around 4:00 - we were having a grand old time, shooting an AR, a Mini 14, some 10/22s, a few rimfire pistols, a .40 XD, my Taurus 85, etc... we wrapped up around 5:15pm, when it was getting dark outside, everyone packed up their stuff and went home. When I got back to the house, my dad informed me that one of the neighbors called to complain about the noise ("I'm sick and tired of hearing gunshots for hours and hours on end - it's like I'm in a warzone!" :barf: ) and noted that it wasn't legal to shoot targets during deer season. I was baffled - hadn't ever heard that before. :confused:

Colin
 
Here is the law

97B.041 POSSESSION OF FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION RESTRICTED IN DEER
ZONES.
A person may not possess a firearm or ammunition outdoors during the period beginning the
fifth day before the open firearms season and ending the second day after the close of the season
within an area where deer may be taken by a firearm, except:
(1) during the open season and in an area where big game may be taken, a firearm and
ammunition authorized for taking big game in that area may be used to take big game in that area
if the person has a valid big game license in possession;
(2) an unloaded firearm that is in a case or in a closed trunk of a motor vehicle;
(3) a shotgun and shells containing No. 4 buckshot or smaller diameter lead shot or steel shot;
(4) a handgun or rifle and only short, long, and long rifle cartridges that are caliber of .22
inches;
(5) handguns possessed by a person authorized to carry a handgun under sections 624.714
and 624.715 for the purpose authorized; and
(6) on a target range operated under a permit from the commissioner.
This section does not apply during an open firearms season in an area where deer may be
taken only by muzzleloader, except that muzzleloading firearms lawful for the taking of deer may
be possessed only by persons with a valid license to take deer by muzzleloader during that season.
History: 1986 c 386 art 2 s 9; 1987 c 149 art 1 s 43; 1993 c 269 s 11; 1994 c 623 art 1 s 29
 
Jeez. I can actually understand the reason/purpose behind the law, but not allowing exceptions for propertyowners on their own property at the very least? Quite unreasonable. Somewhere you have to draw the line between facilitating the prosecution of poachers and individual rights, but I think they got lost on the way to where that line should have been...we may not all agree on where that is, but I think almost all of us can agree where it isn't. Such as where they drew it.
 
Fish & Game Laws violate all sorts of constitutional protections, not just in a few states either. I've heard of New England cops with a hunch asking a game warden to use his anti-poaching search authority to violate the Fourth Amendment rights of citizens.

In New Hampshire, for instance, it's illegal to be out in the woods with a flashlight and a firearm after dark - so even if they can't prove you intend to jacklight game, they can still arrest you.

Selective enforcement, the hallmark of tyranny, is the key to these laws.
 
Pretty much the whole state is a legal deer zone except for the twin cities and in a few city limits.
 
There is a law similar in Wisconsin, but it has an exception to landowners.

It is illegal to:
possess any firearm from 12:00 midnight–11:59 p.m. on November 16, 2007
unless the firearm is unloaded and enclosed within a carrying case. Exceptions:
target shooting at established target ranges and on private lands by landowners and
immediate family members who live with them, waterfowl hunting during open
season, hunting on licensed bird hunting preserves, and hunting small game in
CWD Zones.
 
...target shooting at established target ranges and on private lands by landowners and immediate family members who live with them...
Click to expand...

Yeah, this is the exact kind of exception I was talking about. Even this is pretty restrictive (as it disallows me from shooting with a friend on my own land) but definitely closer to the line I would draw than what MN appears to have drawn.
 
xd9fan thats Minnesota for ya...the land of 10000 taxes and restrictions

Don't forget police that pull people over for DOSP (Driver w/Out of State Plates). It's not enough to have people from out of state spend money in the state, they have to pull us over and issue us bullshiat tickets because the state is so broke.

I got a $127 ticket for what the cop claimed was 15 over the limit and he was doing me a "favor" for making it only 10 over. (No possible way I was going more than 6-8 over.) When he clocked me there were cars passing me on the left, but they had MN plates. Many other people I know have had similar experiences. Can't profile based on race, but they sure as hell do with what state you are from.
 
You should probably consider what happened (what was it a year, or two years ago) in WI during hunting season. That nutjob slayed several hunters because they were supposedly on his property.
 
That rule is frankly absurd and unconstitutional. They probably realize that, which is why all you got is a warning. I'd be telling them to pound sand, and give me the ticket, so I could challenge it in court.
 
I guess I could just stick to shooting my revolver, claiming that as a carry permit holder, I'm defending myself against the paper targets, cantaloupe, and Dr. Pepper cans in the sand pit. :rolleyes:

Crosshair - Wisconsin troopers prey on Minnesota drivers in a similar manner. I empathize.

Colin
 
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