Tim Walz Pushes ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban Days After Brown University Handgun Attack

On Monday, just two days after a handgun attack at Brown University, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) pushed an “assault weapons” ban.

Walz posted to X:

He did not define what constitutes an “assault weapon,” thereby leaving Minnesotans to guess whether the term would be applied as broadly as in Colorado where some shotguns and pistols are included in the ban.

Walz spent months pushing for more gun control after a transgender who changed his name from “Robert” to “Robin” opened fire on a Catholic school in Minneapolis on August 27, 2025. The transgender had a handgun, a shotgun, and a rifle.

Walz’s efforts to secure more gun control included pushing for a special legislative gun control session and even floating the idea of an “assault weapons” ban via an amendment to the state constitution. None of Walz’s efforts were successful, nevertheless, two days after the Brown University handgun attack he revisited his desire to ban “assault weapons.”

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 and holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.