Minnesota Weapons & Firearms Crime Lawyer: Bloomington, Minneapolis & Statewide

A Minnesota weapons and firearms crime lawyer serving Bloomington, Minneapolis, and the rest of the state earns the result on one question more than any other, and it is not the one most people expect. Charged with a firearm offense in Minnesota, you probably assume the fight is about whether the gun was yours. On the most serious charge, possession of a firearm by an ineligible person under Minn. Stat. §624.713, it usually is not. The real fight is whether the state can prove you possessed the gun at all, because Minnesota law lets prosecutors argue constructive possession, a firearm found in a shared car or a house with several people in it, with no fingerprints and nobody holding it. Charles Segal has spent more than 30 years defending felony and forfeiture cases across the Twin Cities and throughout Minnesota, and he attacks that possession element first, because on a felon-in-possession charge that element is where the case lives or dies.

Weapon Crime Defense Lawyer Serving Bloomington, the Twin Cities & All of Minnesota

Firearm charges in Minnesota range from a gross misdemeanor to a felony with a five-year mandatory minimum, and the gap between those outcomes is enormous. Hennepin County prosecutors, who handle cases out of Bloomington, Minneapolis, and the south-metro suburbs, treat gun allegations seriously and charge them aggressively. The charge on the complaint is a starting point, not a verdict, and the first job of the defense is to test whether the state can actually prove each element of the crime it picked.

Charles Segal defends the full range of weapon and firearm offenses, and because these charges so often ride alongside a drug stop, a traffic stop, or another allegation, he looks at the whole case rather than the gun in isolation. Common weapon and firearm charges include:

• Possession of a firearm by an ineligible person (Minn. Stat. §624.713)
• Carrying a pistol in public or a vehicle without a permit (Minn. Stat. §624.714)
• Possession or use of a firearm while committing another felony, which can trigger a mandatory minimum under Minn. Stat. §609.11
• Reckless handling or discharge of a firearm and dangerous-weapon offenses under Minn. Stat. §609.66
• Drive-by shooting allegations
• Threats of violence involving a weapon
• Gun seizure and forfeiture of firearms taken at the time of arrest

Felon in Possession of a Firearm in Minnesota

Possession of a firearm by an ineligible person under Minn. Stat. §624.713 is the most serious common firearm charge in the state, and it carries a five-year mandatory minimum when the prior offense was a crime of violence. "Ineligible" is a status question: the law lists who may not possess a firearm, and a prior crime-of-violence conviction is the most common reason someone falls into that category. That status is often not what the case turns on.

What the state still has to prove is possession, and Minnesota recognizes two kinds. Actual possession means the gun was on you. Constructive possession means the state argues you knowingly exercised control over a firearm that was not physically in your hands, often one found in a car you were riding in or a residence where other people also lived.

A gun in the glovebox of a car with three people in it is not automatically anyone's gun. The state has to connect it to a specific person who knew it was there and had control over it. That connection is exactly what we test, piece by piece.

Because the mandatory minimum is so steep, the difference between a provable possession case and a weak one changes everything about how the case should be handled. If you are facing a felon-in-possession charge, call (612) 299-1110 before giving any statement about whose gun it was.

Carrying a Firearm Without a Permit in Minnesota

Carrying a pistol in public, or in a vehicle, without a valid permit to carry is a crime under Minn. Stat. §624.714. A first offense is a gross misdemeanor, which can carry up to a year in jail, and a later offense becomes a felony. The statute also carries exceptions that matter: carrying at your own home or place of business is treated differently, and so is transporting a firearm unloaded and in a closed case on the way to or from a range or another lawful activity.

Many of these charges come out of a traffic stop, which raises a second set of questions the defense examines closely. Was the stop lawful? Was there a valid basis to search the vehicle? If the firearm was found through a search that should not have happened, the way it was found can be challenged, and that challenge can reach the whole case.

Firearm Seizure and Forfeiture: The Case Behind the Case

When police make an arrest involving a firearm, they routinely seize the gun, and the state can move to forfeit it through a civil process that runs separately from the criminal charge. This is the part clients most often miss. You can resolve the criminal case entirely and still lose your firearms permanently if the forfeiture is never contested, because the two tracks have their own deadlines.

This is the same forfeiture machinery that runs on drug cases, where property and money are seized at arrest and a short window exists to challenge the taking. Charles Segal has fought these forfeiture hearings for years, and on a weapons case he treats the seized firearm as part of the case, not an afterthought, so the gun is fought for on the same timeline as the charge itself. If guns were taken when you were arrested, call (612) 299-1110 so a deadline does not pass unnoticed.

Why Firearm Charges Are Frequently Felonies

Weapon allegations escalate fast in Minnesota. A charge that could look minor on its face often carries felony exposure once the facts are applied, and a firearm present during another alleged offense can trigger a mandatory minimum under Minn. Stat. §609.11 that the court generally cannot sentence below. That is why firearm charges are frequently charged as felonies, and why they should never be treated as something that will sort itself out.

Weapons and firearms charges are core criminal defense work this firm already handles alongside its assault, drug, and felony practice. The same questions that decide an assault or a drug case, whether the stop was lawful, whether a search holds up, whether the state can prove the element it needs, decide a gun case too.

Why Clients Across Minnesota Call Charles Segal

Charles Segal has spent more than 30 years in Minnesota criminal defense and has handled cases in more than 50 of the state's 87 counties, with his main office at 3800 American Blvd. in Bloomington. He handles weapons cases himself rather than passing them to an associate, and he appears in person in the Hennepin County courts where most Bloomington and Minneapolis firearm cases are heard.

Just as important, you will understand what you are facing at every step, from the stop that started the case through the forfeiture of any seized firearm. The goal is simple to state: make the state prove what it claims, challenge the parts it cannot prove, and get the charge matched to what actually happened.

Weapons & Firearms Charge Questions, Answered

Contact a Minnesota Weapons & Firearms Crime Lawyer

A firearm charge can carry consequences that last well beyond the case, and the earlier an attorney is involved, the more can be done, especially when a mandatory minimum or a gun forfeiture is on the table. Charles Segal will review every part of the case, from the stop to the search to any seized firearm, and chart the path toward the best possible outcome. To talk it through, call Segal Defense, P.A. at (612) 299-1110 to request a free consultation, or send us the details and we will come back to you.