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

Minnesota does not classify a BB gun as a firearm, but several state statutes still regulate who can carry one, where it can be used, and how it must be transported. The headline rule under Minnesota BB gun laws: 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.¹² Separate rules cover minors, school property, threatening displays, and reckless use, and because they overlap, the rule that applies to you depends on exactly what you are doing with the gun.

What Minnesota Counts as a BB Gun

Under state law, a BB gun is any device that fires or ejects a shot measuring .18 of an inch or less in diameter.¹ That same definition appears in the public-carry statute and the threats-of-violence statute. Anything that throws a larger projectile falls outside the BB gun rules and into the firearm rules.

Minnesota’s firearm statutes expressly exclude BB guns from the definition of “pistol.”³ Pistol-permit rules, handgun-purchase requirements, and firearm-specific penalties do not reach them. The BB gun regime is its own thing, and the penalties within it are serious.

Carrying a BB Gun in Public

Carrying a BB gun on or about your person in a public place is a gross misdemeanor under section 624.7181.¹ Age does not matter. The maximum sentence is 364 days in jail and a $3,000 fine.² “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 also fall outside what the statute counts as “carrying”:

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

Law enforcement officers, military personnel, and licensed private detectives acting within the scope of their duties are also exempt.¹ These exceptions apply automatically; you do not have to claim one in advance.

Giving a BB Gun to a Minor

The rules for furnishing a minor with a BB gun depend on whether you are inside or outside a municipality.

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.⁴ This applies to anyone handing the gun over, not just a retailer.

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.⁴

For parents and guardians, the practical rule is simple. Keep written permission on hand, and keep children under 14 under direct supervision when they are using a BB gun outside a city or town. Inside any municipality, nobody should hand a BB gun to a minor without clear parental or police approval.

BB Guns on School Property

School property has its own statute, and even simple possession is a crime. There are three tiers:

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.⁴⁵
Using or brandishing a BB gun while knowingly on school property is a gross misdemeanor, with a maximum of 364 days and a $3,000 fine.⁴²
Possessing a device that qualifies as a “dangerous weapon” rather than merely a BB gun on school grounds is a felony, carrying up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.⁴

A standard BB gun firing .18-inch shot sits in the misdemeanor or gross-misdemeanor tier. A modified or high-powered air rifle could qualify as a dangerous weapon and trigger the felony tier. School discipline runs on top of any criminal charge.

Pointing or Brandishing a BB Gun

Displaying, brandishing, or otherwise using a BB gun in a threatening manner is a standalone crime under the state’s threats-of-violence statute, separate from the public-carry rule. The charge applies if you cause or attempt to cause terror in another person, or act with reckless disregard for the risk of causing terror.⁶

The penalty is up to one year and one day of imprisonment, a fine of up to $3,000, or both.⁶ The statute also reaches replica firearms, so prosecutors do not need to prove the device actually functioned as a BB gun.

This is where BB gun cases escalate. Officers responding to a call about someone pointing what looks like a gun treat it as a lethal threat until they know otherwise. Carrying or waving a BB gun in a way that could be mistaken for a real firearm creates serious personal danger on top of the criminal exposure.

Reckless Use and Endangerment

Minnesota’s general dangerous-weapons law covers reckless handling of any gun, airguns included, that endangers another person’s safety. Recklessly handling or using a gun so as to endanger the safety of another is a crime under section 609.66.⁴ Committing the offense in a school zone, park zone, or public housing zone triggers enhanced penalties that can include imprisonment.

In practice, this is the statute that typically applies when a BB gun is fired carelessly, whether at a target too close to other people, across a road, or in a residential area where a stray shot could hit a neighbor. 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. Under 624.7181, a BB gun that is unloaded and in a closed, fastened gun case designed for firearms does not count as being “carried,” which keeps the gross-misdemeanor charge off the table.¹ An unloaded BB gun in the closed trunk of a vehicle also satisfies the transport rules.

Section 97B.045, the general firearm-transport statute, requires firearms in a vehicle to be cased and enclosed or in the closed trunk. Because BB guns are excluded from the “pistol” definition, certain relaxed hunting-transport rules for non-pistol firearms can apply as well, including transporting an uncased, unloaded BB gun to or from a place you are lawfully hunting that day.⁷ That hunting exception does not apply within Anoka, Hennepin, or Ramsey County, or within any city of 2,500 or more people.

Minnesota does not require BB guns to be stored in a locked container or with a trigger lock. Safe storage is still sound practice in a home with children, for reasons the next section covers.

Civil Liability for BB Gun Injuries

Criminal charges are only one layer. If a BB gun injures someone, the shooter or the shooter’s parents can be sued for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Parents face particular exposure through negligent entrustment, the theory that a parent who gives a child access to a dangerous instrument knowing the child is too young, reckless, or inexperienced to use it safely can be held directly liable for the resulting injuries. A BB gun that causes an eye injury or similar harm fits that pattern cleanly.

Leaving a loaded BB gun accessible to a young child who then injures a playmate can produce both a criminal charge under 609.66 and a civil lawsuit built around the parent’s negligence.

Federal Rules, Air Travel, and Shipping

Federal law defines a “firearm” as a weapon that expels a projectile by the action of an explosive, which leaves air-powered BB guns out.⁸ Federal prohibitions on firearm possession by convicted felons and other prohibited persons do not reach BB guns, and Minnesota’s exclusion of BB guns from the “pistol” definition aligns with that.³ The federal safe-passage provision for interstate firearm transport is also limited to firearms, so it will not shield a BB gun owner driving through a stricter state.⁹

For air travel, the TSA treats BB guns as replica firearms. They cannot go in carry-on luggage. In checked baggage, a 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.¹⁰

For USPS shipping, air guns that can be concealed on a person or that have a muzzle velocity of 400 feet per second or more require Adult Signature service. The Postal Service may require you to open the package or certify in writing that the BB gun is unloaded, and the outside of the package cannot carry markings identifying the contents. Shippers must also comply with the destination state’s and locality’s regulations.¹¹

Local Ordinances

Minnesota cities and townships can add BB gun restrictions on top of state law, and many do. Common additions include outright bans on discharging a BB gun within city limits, carrying restrictions beyond what 624.7181 covers, and local permit requirements. There is no central database of these ordinances. Before you carry or fire a BB gun in a given city, check the local code or call the local police department. Conduct that is lawful under state law can still draw a local fine.

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 609.0342 – Gross Misdemeanor Sentencing
3
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 624.712 – Certain Weapons Definitions
4
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 609.66 – Dangerous Weapons
5
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 609.02 – Definitions
6
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 609.713 – Threats of Violence
7
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 97B.045 – Transporting Firearms
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 921 – Definitions
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 926A – Interstate Transportation of Firearms
10
Transportation Security Administration. Transporting Firearms and Ammunition
11
Postal Explorer. 432 Mailability