Minnesota legislator concerned gun storage law puts farmers at greater risk if a cow charges

Minnesota Sen. Warren Limmer said at a hearing last week that he's worried that a proposal to establish more stringent gun-storage laws could put farmers and their families in greater danger if they are charged by a cow and need to defend themselves.

Limmer, R-Maple Grove, raised his concern with the proposal during Friday's legislative hearing for the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee. The proposal authored by Sen. Heather Gustafson, DFL-Vadnais Heights, increases the criminal penalties for negligent gun storage and specifies what level of security is required. Under the proposal as it currently reads, guns must be unloaded and equipped with a locking device when the owner is not carrying it, or placed in a locked gun storage unit.

He said many farmers have a gun readily available for emergencies, and that if they aren't accessible quickly, more cow-related injuries or fatalities could result.

"Take for example a cow that just recently had a calf — you even walk too close to a cow and it'll take you down and trample you into dust," Limmer said. "Fumbling around with a lock while a cow or a bull or any other animal is going after your daughter or your son — you can't fumble around with a key or try and find the lockbox or put your thumb on a biometric key of some sort in your home while the danger is outside."

Reports show that deaths caused by cows in the U.S. are uncommon but not unheard of. In 2019, a 41-year-old Minnesota man was trampled to death in his cow yard near Parkers Prairie. A January 2024 report by the journal Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology estimated that around 20 to 22 deaths per year in the United States are caused by cattle.

Along with his concern for cattle farmers, Limmer said he thinks the bill ignores people who need a gun more readily available to protect themselves inside a home.

Fellow Republican senators and organizations associated with gun ownership or gun rights also argued against the bill. Others spoke in favor of it, including victims of gun violence and some DFL senators.

Limmer did not return a request for comment Monday.