How to Register a Gun in MN: Permits, Transfers, and Carry

You cannot register a gun in Minnesota because the state has no firearm registry. Minnesota law prohibits any requirement to register firearms or to collect serial-number data on guns or gun owners.¹ What the state does require is a permit on the buyer’s side before certain firearms change hands, and a separate permit before anyone carries a handgun in public. If you came here looking to register a gun you own or are about to buy, the real question is which permit applies to you.

What Minnesota Requires Instead of Registration

Two permits do most of the work a registry does elsewhere, and neither one catalogs the firearm itself. The Permit to Purchase qualifies you to acquire a pistol or a semi-automatic military-style assault weapon. The Permit to Carry qualifies you to carry a handgun in public. Both run through a background check; neither records the make, model, or serial number of any particular gun to your name.

Standard long guns, such as bolt-action rifles and ordinary shotguns, do not require a Permit to Purchase and are not subject to Minnesota’s private-transfer background check rules.² If you already own a firearm legally, there is nothing to file with the state after the fact.

Permit to Purchase a Pistol or Assault Weapon

You need a Permit to Purchase before buying a pistol or a semi-automatic military-style assault weapon in Minnesota, whether from a licensed dealer or a private seller. A valid Permit to Carry doubles as a purchase permit, so people who already carry do not need both.³

Who Qualifies

You must be at least 18, a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, and not prohibited from possessing firearms under state or federal law. Disqualifiers include felony convictions, certain domestic violence convictions, active restraining orders, and civil commitments for mental illness. Federal law separately requires buyers to be 21 to purchase a handgun from a licensed dealer, so applicants aged 18 to 20 can only use the permit for private-party transfers.

Where to Apply

Submit the application to the police chief of the city where you live. If your city has no police department, apply to your county sheriff instead.³ This routing differs from the Permit to Carry, which always goes to the county sheriff, and the mix-up is common.

What You Need

Valid photo ID: a Minnesota driver’s license, state ID card, or passport
Full legal name, address, date of birth, and the other identifying information requested
The Minnesota Uniform Firearm Application/Receipt, available from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety or at your local police department or sheriff’s office

Cost and Timing

There is no fee for a Permit to Purchase.³ The agency runs a background check through the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and must approve or deny within 30 days, though many applications come back in about a week. Once issued, the permit is valid statewide for one year.

Private Sales and the Transfer Report

Since August 1, 2023, Minnesota has required a background check on every private transfer of a pistol or semi-automatic military-style assault weapon. The buyer either shows a valid Permit to Purchase (or Permit to Carry), or the parties bring the sale through a licensed dealer who runs the check.²

Every private transfer of these firearms also requires a written transfer report. Both parties sign it, and the seller delivers it to the local police chief or county sheriff within three business days. Both parties should keep a copy for at least 10 years.

This transfer report is the closest thing in Minnesota to a registration record, and even here the law gives you a way out: if the firearm came through a licensed dealer, you can ask your local police chief or sheriff to destroy the transfer record entirely.² Long guns are not covered by any of these transfer rules.

Permit to Carry a Handgun

Carrying a handgun in public, openly or concealed, requires a Permit to Carry.⁴ The eligibility bar sits a step above the purchase permit. You must:

Be at least 21
Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident
Reside in the county where you apply (non-residents may apply to any Minnesota county sheriff)
Not be prohibited from possessing firearms under state or federal law
Not appear in the criminal gang investigative data system
Have completed an approved firearms training course within the past year

The permit is valid for five years and, during that period, substitutes for a Permit to Purchase when you buy handguns or semi-automatic military-style assault weapons.¹

Required Training

Before you apply, a certified instructor must sign off on a course covering three areas: fundamentals of pistol use, a live-fire shooting qualification, and the legal rules on carrying and using a firearm, including self-defense and deadly force.¹ The statute sets no minimum hours; most courses run roughly four to six hours and cost in the range of $100 to $250. Your certificate must be dated within one year of the application, and renewals require a fresh certificate.⁴

Fees and Timing

Statute sets maximum fees, and counties charge at or below the caps:

New Permit to Carry: up to $100
Renewal within 90 days before expiration: up to $75
Late renewal, 1 to 30 days past expiration: varies by county, commonly around $85 to $90
Late renewal, 31 or more days past expiration: up to $100¹

The sheriff has 30 days from a complete application to issue or deny. If the sheriff fails to act within that window, the permit is deemed issued and must be processed promptly.

Renewal

You can start a renewal up to 90 days before your expiration date, and the process mirrors the original application, training certificate included. An expired permit is not valid for carry, late renewals cost more, and a long enough lapse pushes you back to a new application. The 90-day window is wide enough that there is no reason to wait.

Where a Carry Permit Does Not Reach

A Permit to Carry is not blanket authority to bring a firearm anywhere. Minnesota restricts or prohibits firearms in courthouse complexes and Capitol-area buildings (with specific notification requirements for permit holders), state correctional facilities and state hospitals (absent consent of the facility’s chief executive officer), and state game refuges (where firearms must be unloaded and cased or broken down).¹ Administrative rules add others, including state parks, wildlife management areas, workers’ compensation offices, jails, veterans’ homes, licensed day care facilities, and Minnesota Zoological Garden property.

Private businesses can ban firearms on their premises, but only by posting a conspicuous sign at every entrance in black Arial lettering at least 1.5 inches tall on a bright background, or by personally telling you and asking you to leave. Refusing to leave is a petty misdemeanor with a fine of no more than $25 for a first offense. A business cannot bar you from keeping a lawfully possessed firearm in your car in its parking lot, and landlords cannot restrict tenants or their guests from lawfully carrying or possessing firearms.

If You Already Own the Gun

Owning a firearm you acquired lawfully involves no filing, no renewal, and no state record tied to the specific gun. The permit system touches the moment of acquisition and, for handguns in public, the act of carrying. Beyond that, Minnesota keeps no registry for you to appear on.

1
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 624.714 – Carrying of Weapons Without Permit; Penalties
2
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 624.7132 – Report of Transfer
3
License Minnesota. Permit to Purchase/Transfer a Firearm
4
Minnesota Department of Public Safety. Permit to Carry