BB Gun Laws in Minnesota: Carrying, Minors, and Transport

BB gun laws in Minnesota sit in their own category: a BB gun is not a firearm under state law, but several statutes still control who can carry one, where it can be used, and how it must be handled around minors and schools. Carrying a BB gun on your person in a public place is a gross misdemeanor punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a $3,000 fine.¹ Other rules govern minors, school grounds, threatening displays, and reckless use, and which statute applies to your situation matters more here than in most states.

How Minnesota Classifies a BB Gun

Minnesota defines a “BB gun” as any device that fires or ejects a shot measuring .18 of an inch or less in diameter.¹ That number is the dividing line. Anything shooting a larger projectile falls under different rules.

The state’s firearms statutes explicitly exclude BB guns from the definition of “pistol.”² So pistol permit rules, handgun purchase requirements, and firearm-specific penalties do not reach BB guns. That does not make BB guns unregulated. It just means the regulation lives in its own set of provisions, and the penalties there can still be serious.

Carrying a BB Gun in Public

This is the rule that catches most people. Carrying a BB gun on or about your person in a public place is a gross misdemeanor, regardless of your age.¹ A “public place” is defined broadly: government-owned property or private property regularly open to the public in sufficient numbers to show it is dedicated to public use.

The definition explicitly excludes your own home, your own business, gun shops, gun shows, hunting or target shooting facilities, and woods, fields, or waters where you are lawfully hunting or shooting.¹

Several situations do not count as “carrying” under the statute:

Going to, from, or at a place where firearms are bought, sold, repaired, traded, or displayed, or where hunting, target shooting, or another lawful firearms activity occurs.
Carrying the BB gun unloaded and fully enclosed in a gun case designed for firearms, zipped, snapped, buckled, or otherwise fastened with no part of the gun exposed.
Holding a valid carry permit under section 624.714.
Transporting the BB gun in compliance with Minnesota’s general firearm transport rules (97B.045).

Law enforcement officers, military personnel, and licensed private detectives acting within their duties are also exempt. You do not need to claim any of these exceptions in advance; they operate as part of the statute’s definition of “carry.”

Rules for Minors and Parents

Minnesota’s rules for supplying a BB gun to a minor split by geography, and they target the adult who provides the gun, not just the child who uses it.

Within a municipality, furnishing a minor under 18 with an airgun without the prior consent of the minor’s parent or guardian, or the local police department, is a felony.³ That reaches anyone handing over the BB gun, not only retailers.

Outside a municipality, the focus narrows to younger children. It is illegal to furnish a child under 14 with an airgun without parental consent, and parents cannot allow a child under 14 to handle an airgun outside the parent’s direct presence. Written consent signed by the parent is a complete defense to a charge under this provision.³

If you are a parent or guardian, the practical rules are simple. Inside any city or town, do not let anyone give your child a BB gun without your clear approval, and do not hand a BB gun to another minor without their parent’s consent. Outside town, children under 14 need you present.

BB Guns on School Property

School grounds get their own statute, and simple possession is enough for a criminal charge. The penalty tiers work like this:

Possessing, storing, or keeping a BB gun while knowingly on school property is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.³
Using or brandishing a BB gun while knowingly on school property is a gross misdemeanor, with a maximum of 364 days in jail and a $3,000 fine.³
If the device qualifies as a “dangerous weapon” rather than a standard BB gun, possession on school grounds is a felony carrying up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.³

The statute treats BB guns as distinct from dangerous weapons, which is why the tiers exist. A standard BB gun firing .18-inch shot triggers the misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor level. A modified or higher-powered air rifle could push the case into the felony tier. Schools will also impose their own discipline on top of any criminal charge.

Threatening Display of a BB Gun

Displaying, brandishing, or otherwise using a BB gun in a threatening manner is a separate crime under Minnesota’s threats-of-violence statute. Charges apply if you cause or attempt to cause terror in another person, or act with reckless disregard for the risk of causing terror.⁴

The offense carries up to one year and one day of imprisonment, a fine of up to $3,000, or both.⁴ The statute also reaches replica firearms, toy guns, and similar facsimiles, so police do not need to confirm the device is a functional BB gun before making an arrest.

The bigger risk sits alongside the criminal exposure. Officers responding to a report of a person brandishing what appears to be a firearm treat it as a lethal threat until proven otherwise. Carrying or waving a BB gun in a way that could be mistaken for a real firearm puts you in personal danger, not just legal trouble.

Reckless Use and Endangerment

Minnesota’s general dangerous-weapons law covers reckless handling of any gun, airguns included. Recklessly handling or using a gun so as to endanger the safety of another is a crime under section 609.66, and committing the offense in a school zone, park zone, or public housing zone triggers enhanced penalties that can include imprisonment.³

This is the statute most likely to reach someone shooting a BB gun carelessly in a residential yard, across a road, or near a neighbor’s property. The charge turns on the recklessness of the conduct, not on whether anyone was actually hit.

Transporting a BB Gun

The safest approach is unloaded and fully enclosed in a gun case. A BB gun in that condition does not count as being “carried” under the public-carry statute, which takes the gross misdemeanor off the table entirely.¹ An unloaded BB gun in a closed trunk also satisfies the transport rules.

Minnesota’s general firearm-transport statute (97B.045) requires firearms in a vehicle to be either cased and enclosed or in the closed trunk. Because BB guns are excluded from the “pistol” definition, some relaxed transport rules for non-pistol firearms during hunting can apply, including transporting an uncased, unloaded BB gun while traveling to or from a place you are lawfully hunting that day.⁵ That exception does not apply within Anoka, Hennepin, or Ramsey County, or within any city of 2,500 or more people.

No Minnesota statute requires BB guns to be stored in a locked container or with a trigger lock. Safe storage is still sound practice, particularly in a home with children, because of the liability exposure covered next.

Civil Liability for BB Gun Injuries

Criminal penalties are only half the picture. If a BB gun injures someone, the shooter or the shooter’s parents can face civil liability for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Parents carry particular exposure through negligent entrustment, the theory that giving a child access to a dangerous instrument when the child is too young, reckless, or inexperienced to use it safely creates direct liability for injuries that follow. Courts have applied the theory to firearms and comparable devices, and a BB gun that causes an eye injury or other serious harm fits the pattern.

Leaving a loaded BB gun accessible to a young child who then injures a playmate creates two problems at once: a potential charge under 609.66 and a civil suit built around the parent’s negligence.

How Federal Law Treats BB Guns

Federal law defines a “firearm” as a weapon that expels a projectile by the action of an explosive, which excludes air-powered BB guns.⁶ Federal prohibitions on firearm possession by convicted felons, people under domestic violence restraining orders, and other prohibited persons do not reach BB guns as a result. Minnesota’s state definitions align on this point.²

One boundary matters for travelers. The federal safe-passage provision for interstate firearm transport (18 U.S.C. § 926A) applies only to “firearms” and does not cover BB guns.⁷ If you are driving through another state with a BB gun, check that state’s rules directly. The federal shield does not travel with you.

For air travel, the TSA treats BB guns as replica firearms. They cannot go in carry-on. In checked baggage, the BB gun must be unloaded, locked in a hard-sided container, and declared to the airline at the ticket counter, with only you retaining the key or combination.⁸

Local Ordinances

Minnesota cities and townships can impose additional BB gun restrictions beyond state law, and many do. Common local additions include outright bans on discharging BB guns within city limits, tighter rules on public carry, and permit requirements. Some cities designate specific zones as the only places a BB gun can be fired.⁹

There is no central database of these local ordinances. Before shooting or carrying a BB gun anywhere in Minnesota, check the local code or call the local police department. Conduct that is legal under state law can still be a local offense with its own fines.

1
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 624.7181 – Rifles and Shotguns in Public Places
2
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 624.712 – Certain Weapons Definitions
3
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 609.66 – Dangerous Weapons
4
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 609.713 – Threats of Violence
5
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 97B.045 – Transporting Firearms
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 921 – Definitions
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 926A – Interstate Transportation of Firearms
8
Transportation Security Administration. Transporting Firearms and Ammunition
9
Breezy Point General Offenses. Chapter 131 – Offenses Against Public Morals – Dangerous Weapons and Articles