By Yvette Higgins

Report for Minnesota

After more than 80 years, the Legislature appears poised to change a rule that restricts the kind of firearms that deer hunters can use in large parts of Minnesota. 

A bill by Rep. Chris Swedzinski, R-Ghent, would allow people to hunt deer in any part of the state with any legal firearm. 

Currently hunters are limited to using only shotguns, muzzleloaders and handguns in southern Minnesota. Rifles are commonly used by hunters in northern Minnesota and most other states. 

The shotgun-only zone was created in 1942 to protect what was then a small deer population because shotguns cannot shoot as far as rifles, according to Barbara Keller, big game program leader at the Department of Natural Resources. 

Now, Minnesota’s deer population is too big, and is damaging crops and gardens in some areas, according to the DNR. 

Minnesota, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Jersey are the only four states that limit the use of rifles for deer hunting, according to Remington Ammunition. 

Keller said in an interview that the DNR supports Swedzinski’s bill because it will give hunters more flexibility. 

“An important part of the identity of many Minnesotans is hunting in order to connect with nature,” Keller said. 

Republicans have been trying to eliminate the shotgun zone for years. 

Some Democrats at the House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee meeting on April 1 said they felt neutral about the bill. No one expressed opposition. 

Keller said some people who opposed the bill in the past were concerned that rifles are less safe than shotguns. But shotgun zones were originally created to increase the deer population, not for safety purposes, she said. 

Robert Gorecki, the DNR’s assistant director of enforcement, said in an interview that new technologies have made shotguns equally as dangerous as rifles. He said hunters are responsible for handling guns safely. 

“Both of them–whether it’s a shotgun or a rifle–are both dangerous weapons that certainly could injure or kill anybody depending on how they’re being handled,” Gorecki said.  

There were five hunting rifle accidents and four shotgun accidents between 2022 and 2024, Gorecki said. Often, these accidents are self-inflicted; hunters shoot themselves accidentally when getting on and off ladders or if they slip and fall. 

Swedzinski said in an interview that women and young people often feel more comfortable using a rifle than a shotgun because shotguns have a stronger kick.

The bill would allow counties to remain shotgun-only areas if they chose, but the counties, rather than the DNR, would then have to be responsible for enforcing shotgun use. Keller said that could be confusing for hunters. 

Swedzinski said he was confident the bill would pass this year. 

Report for Minnesota is a project of the University of Minnesota’s Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication to support local news in all areas of the state.