On March 1st, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) released its annual report on the permit to carry firearms program in Minnesota. The report shows that legal gun owners who have obtained a permit to carry firearms in Minnesota are overwhelmingly law abiding – especially involving the use of their firearms.
Since the Minnesota Personal Protection Act (MPPA) was signed into law in 2003, hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans have obtained their permit to carry a firearm. As on January 2026, there were approximately 375,000 valid permit holders. Each permit is valid for 5 years unless a permit is revoked due to prohibited activity by the permit holder.
By the numbers
In 2025 there were 75,782 applications for permits filed with sheriff’s offices around the state. There were 65,961 permits issued to new or renewed applicants, 597 permit applications were denied, and 9057 permit applications were pending as of December 31st 2025.
Conviction Comparison
In 2025 there were 5,647 (or 1.5%) permit to carry holders (out of 375,000) who were convicted of a crime in Minnesota, misdemeanor to felony.
By comparison, there were 510,149 (or 11.3%) adult criminal convictions involving an adult general population of approximately 4.5 million – according to the Minnesota District Court.
Use of Firearm in Furtherance of Crime
In 2025 just 139 of the 5,647 (or 2.4%) permit holder convictions involved a firearm.
By comparison, 863 of the 14,229 (or 6%) felony convictions in 2024 (latest data available) involved the possession or use of a firearm according to the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission.
