Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session

Minnesota House Bill HF258 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1.1 A bill for an act
2	2	1.2 relating to firearms; clarifying law on use of force in defense of home and person;
3	3	1.3 codifying and extending Minnesota's self-defense and defense of home laws;
4	4	1.4 eliminating the common law duty to retreat in cases of self-defense outside the
5	5	1.5 home; expanding the boundaries of dwelling for purposes of self-defense; creating
6	6	1.6 a presumption in the case of a person entering a dwelling or occupied vehicle by
7	7	1.7 stealth or force; extending the rights available to a person in that person's dwelling
8	8	1.8 to a person defending against entry of that person's occupied vehicle; amending
9	9	1.9 Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 609.065.
10	10	1.10BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
11	11	1.11 Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 609.065, is amended to read:
12	12	1.12 609.065 JUSTIFIABLE TAKING OF LIFE USE OF DEADLY FORCE IN
13	13	1.13DEFENSE OF HOME AND PERSON.
14	14	1.14 Subdivision 1.Definitions.The intentional taking of the life of another is not authorized
15	15	1.15by section 609.06, except when necessary in resisting or preventing an offense which the
16	16	1.16actor reasonably believes exposes the actor or another to great bodily harm or death, or
17	17	1.17preventing the commission of a felony in the actor's place of abode (a) For purposes of this
18	18	1.18section, the terms in this subdivision have the meanings given.
19	19	1.19 (b) "Court order" means an order for protection issued under section 518B.01, a
20	20	1.20restraining order issued under section 609.748, a no contact order issued under section
21	21	1.21629.75, or a substantively similar order issued by any court in this state, another state, the
22	22	1.22United States or any subordinate jurisdiction of the United States.
23	23	1.23 (c) "Deadly force" means force used by an individual with the purpose of causing, or
24	24	1.24which the individual should reasonably know creates a substantial risk of causing, great
25	25	1.25bodily harm or death. The intentional discharge of a firearm by an individual at another
26	26	1Section 1.
27	27	REVISOR KLL/VJ 25-0077212/10/24
28	28	State of Minnesota
29	29	This Document can be made available
30	30	in alternative formats upon request
31	31	HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
32	32	H. F. No. 258
33	33	NINETY-FOURTH SESSION
34	34	Authored by Knudsen, Nash, Novotny, Witte, Nelson and others01/23/2025
35	35	The bill was read for the first time and referred to the Committee on Public Safety Finance and Policy 2.1person, or at a vehicle in which another person is believed to be, constitutes deadly force.
36	36	2.2A threat to cause great bodily harm or death, by the production of a weapon or otherwise,
37	37	2.3constitutes reasonable force and not deadly force when the individual's objective is limited
38	38	2.4to creating an expectation that the individual will use deadly force only if authorized by
39	39	2.5law.
40	40	2.6 (d) "Dwelling" means a building as defined under section 609.556, subdivision 3, an
41	41	2.7overnight stopping accommodation of any kind, or a place of abode that an individual
42	42	2.8temporarily or permanently is occupying or intending to occupy as a habitation or home.
43	43	2.9A dwelling includes but is not limited to a building or conveyance and that building's or
44	44	2.10conveyance's curtilage and any attached or adjacent deck, porch, appurtenance, or other
45	45	2.11structure, whether the building or conveyance is used temporarily or permanently for these
46	46	2.12purposes, is mobile or immobile, or is a motor vehicle, watercraft, motor home, tent, or the
47	47	2.13equivalent.
48	48	2.14 (e) "Forcible felony" means any crime punishable by imprisonment exceeding one year
49	49	2.15the elements of which include the use or threatened use of physical force or a deadly weapon
50	50	2.16against the person or another, including but not limited to: murder in the first degree under
51	51	2.17section 609.185; murder in the second degree under section 609.19; manslaughter in the
52	52	2.18first degree under section 609.20; assault in the first degree under section 609.221; assault
53	53	2.19in the second degree under section 609.222; assault in the third degree under section 609.223;
54	54	2.20criminal sexual conduct in the first degree under section 609.342; criminal sexual conduct
55	55	2.21in the second degree under section 609.343; arson in the first degree under section 609.561;
56	56	2.22burglary in the first, second, and third degrees under section 609.582; robbery under sections
57	57	2.23609.24 and 609.245; and kidnapping under section 609.25.
58	58	2.24 (f) "Good faith" includes honesty in fact in the conduct of the act concerned.
59	59	2.25 (g) "Great bodily harm" has the meaning given in section 609.02, subdivision 8.
60	60	2.26 (h) "Imminent" means the actor infers from all the facts and circumstances that the course
61	61	2.27of conduct has commenced.
62	62	2.28 (i) "Substantial bodily harm" has the meaning given in section 609.02, subdivision 7a.
63	63	2.29 (j) "Vehicle" means a conveyance of any type.
64	64	2.30 Subd. 2.Circumstances when authorized.(a) The use of deadly force by an individual
65	65	2.31is justified under this section when the act is undertaken:
66	66	2.32 (1) to resist or prevent the commission of a felony in the individual's dwelling;
67	67	2Section 1.
68	68	REVISOR KLL/VJ 25-0077212/10/24 3.1 (2) to resist or prevent what the individual reasonably believes is an offense or attempted
69	69	3.2offense that imminently exposes the individual or another person to substantial bodily harm,
70	70	3.3great bodily harm, or death; or
71	71	3.4 (3) to resist or prevent what the individual reasonably believes is the commission or
72	72	3.5imminent commission of a forcible felony.
73	73	3.6 (b) The use of deadly force is not authorized under this section if the individual knows
74	74	3.7that the person against whom force is being used is a licensed peace officer from this state,
75	75	3.8another state, the United States or any subordinate jurisdiction of the United States who is
76	76	3.9acting lawfully.
77	77	3.10 Subd. 3.Degree of force; retreat.An individual taking defensive action pursuant to
78	78	3.11subdivision 2 may use all force and means, including deadly force, that the individual in
79	79	3.12good faith believes is required to succeed in defense. The individual may meet force with
80	80	3.13superior force when the individual's objective is defensive, the individual is not required to
81	81	3.14retreat, and the individual may continue defensive actions against an assailant until the
82	82	3.15danger has ended.
83	83	3.16 Subd. 4.Presumptions.(a) An individual using deadly force is presumed to possess a
84	84	3.17reasonable belief that there exists an imminent threat of substantial bodily harm, great bodily
85	85	3.18harm, or death to the individual or another person, if the individual knows or has reason to
86	86	3.19know that:
87	87	3.20 (1) the person against whom the defensive action is being taken is unlawfully entering
88	88	3.21or attempting to enter by force or by stealth, or has unlawfully entered by force or by stealth
89	89	3.22and remains within, the dwelling or occupied vehicle of the individual; or
90	90	3.23 (2) the person against whom the defensive action is being taken is in the process of
91	91	3.24removing, or attempting to remove, the individual or another person from the dwelling or
92	92	3.25occupied vehicle of the individual.
93	93	3.26 (b) An individual is not entitled to the benefit of the presumption in paragraph (a) if the
94	94	3.27individual knows that the person against whom the defensive action is being taken:
95	95	3.28 (1) is a lawful resident of the dwelling or a lawful possessor of the vehicle, or is otherwise
96	96	3.29lawfully permitted to enter the dwelling or vehicle; or
97	97	3.30 (2) is a person who has lawful custody of the person being removed from the dwelling
98	98	3.31or vehicle or whose removal from the dwelling or vehicle is being attempted. A person who
99	99	3.32is prohibited by a court order from contacting another individual or from entering a dwelling
100	100	3Section 1.
101	101	REVISOR KLL/VJ 25-0077212/10/24 4.1or possessing a vehicle of another individual is not a lawful resident of that individual's
102	102	4.2dwelling and is not a lawful possessor of that individual's vehicle.
103	103	4.3 (c) An individual using defensive force is not entitled to the benefit of the presumption
104	104	4.4in paragraph (a) if the individual is presently engaged in a crime or attempting to escape
105	105	4.5from the scene of a crime, or is presently using the dwelling or occupied vehicle in
106	106	4.6furtherance of a crime.
107	107	4.7 (d) An individual is not entitled to the benefit of the presumption in paragraph (a) if the
108	108	4.8individual knows or has reason to know that the person against whom the defensive action
109	109	4.9is being taken is a licensed peace officer from this state, another state, the United States or
110	110	4.10any subordinate jurisdiction of the United States who is acting lawfully.
111	111	4.11 Subd. 5.Criminal investigation; immunity from prosecution.(a) An individual who
112	112	4.12uses force, including deadly force, according to this section or as otherwise provided by
113	113	4.13law in defense of the individual, the individual's dwelling, or another individual is justified
114	114	4.14in using such force and is immune from any criminal prosecution for that act.
115	115	4.15 (b) A law enforcement agency may arrest an individual using force under circumstances
116	116	4.16described in this section only after considering any claims or circumstances supporting
117	117	4.17self-defense or lawful defense of another individual.
118	118	4.18 Subd. 6.Justifiable use of force; burden of proof.In a criminal trial when there is any
119	119	4.19evidence of justifiable use of force under this section or section 609.06, the state has the
120	120	4.20burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant's actions were not justifiable.
121	121	4.21 Subd. 7.Short title.This section may be cited as the "Defense of Dwelling and Person
122	122	4.22Act of 2025."
123	123	4.23 EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective August 1, 2025, and applies to uses of
124	124	4.24deadly force occurring on or after that date.
125	125	4Section 1.
126	126	REVISOR KLL/VJ 25-0077212/10/24