Committee recommends bill to align state law with federal domestic‑violence firearms ban

Representative Pinto presented a technical but policy‑significant bill to ensure state statutes reflect the federal firearms disability for certain domestic‑violence convictions.

Pinto said the measure clarifies state law to conform with federal standards so that individuals convicted of certain qualified domestic‑violence misdemeanors are disqualified from possessing firearms to the same extent under state law as under the federal Lautenberg Amendment. Nonpartisan counsel told the committee that the federal law, passed in 1996, imposes a lifetime firearms ban for certain domestic‑violence convictions and that Minnesota incorporated the federal standard into state law in 2014; Pinto said the bill makes statutory language consistent to avoid confusion about restoration pathways and to make clear that only expungement or a pardon meet the federal standard for relief.

Members asked questions about restoration routes, pardons and expungement; counsel reiterated that state pardons or expungement would be recognized under federal law, but certain state civil‑rights restoration paths would not satisfy the federal removal standard. The committee voted to recommend placing House File 33 50 on the general register.