Minnesota state Sen. Zaynab Mohamed (DFL) is pushing a .50 caliber firearm ban in the wake of the Minneapolis Catholic school shooting in which a .50 cal was not used.
The .50 caliber ban is part of a larger gun control package.
The National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) summarized the main controls being pushed:
- “Assault Weapons” ban
- Magazine ban
- .50 cal. ban
- Mandatory registry and fees for current owners [of banned firearms] and mandatory reporting of ownership to the police
- Ban on inheriting [banned firearms]
The attacker who killed two children and wounded numerous others on August 27, 2025, as they attended Mass, used a rifle, a handgun, and a shotgun, all of which were purchased legally.
The current body of gun controls being pushed in Minnesota would ban a gun that was not even used, while not touching two of the firearms that were used.
Bottom line: The gun controls, had they been in place on August 26, 2025, would not have prevented the attack that occurred on August 27.
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.