District Court denies state motion to stay ruling against binary trigger provision
News | Published on November 19, 2025 at 1:44pm EST | Author: frazeevergas
0The Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC) has announced that the Ramsey County District Court denied the State of Minnesota’s motion to stay the court’s order holding that a provision of the 2024 Omnibus Bill is unconstitutional.
On November 5, the Honorable Judge Leonardo Castro issued an order denying the request by Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison to stay the court’s August 18 judgment. That original judgment found that the “binary trigger” provision, included in the 1,400-page 2024 Omnibus Bill, was enacted in violation of the Minnesota Constitution’s Single Subject Clause. The court’s denial ensures that the provision banning binary triggers remains unenforceable while the State pursues its appeal.
The court’s memorandum affirmed the original ruling and criticized the State for asking for a stay: “State Defendants seem to disregard or fail to appreciate that the binary trigger amendment is a provision that was never validly enacted.” In denying the State’s motion, the Court went on to state:
The Court held that to stay the August order would be “to validate a law that was unconstitutionally enacted,” which the Court declined to do.
The Court emphasized that “Public interest favors not enforcing unconstitutional laws,” and warned that reinstating a criminal law that everyone agrees was enacted unconstitutionally “serves no purpose.”
Judge Castro noted the significant due process concern of allowing the State to “hold, arrest and incarcerate people who possess binary triggers despite the lack of a valid statutory prohibition.”
“The court’s decision is a clear victory for the rule of law and constitutional governance,” said Nicholas Nelson, Senior Appellate Counsel at UMLC. “The State attempted to revive a criminal law that the court had already determined was unconstitutionally passed. Judge Castro was firm: the public interest is never served by enforcing an invalid law. This is a complete affirmation of our original victory for the Minnesota Constitution and our client, the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus.”
The lawsuit, Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus v. Walz, challenged the 2024 Omnibus Bill for violating the Minnesota Constitution’s Single Subject Clause. UMLC looks forward to defending this victory on appeal and fighting to have the entire 2024 Omnibus Bill struck down.