BISMARCK – North Dakota and Minnesota have resolved a longstanding disagreement over reciprocity for concealed weapon licenses.
North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said effective immediately, Minnesota will recognize Class 1 licenses from North Dakota but not Class 2 licenses, which don’t require a shooting proficiency test. All Minnesota license holders now have reciprocity in North Dakota.
With the change, North Dakota Class 1 license holders now have reciprocity in 39 states, Stenehjem said in a news release.
His office has tried for several years and through a number of legislative changes to gain reciprocity in Minnesota, but Minnesota’s requirement that another state’s laws be “substantially” similar to its own stymied the efforts.
The Minnesota Legislature removed the “substantially” language from the requirement earlier this year, and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety determined Tuesday that North Dakota’s laws met the new standard.
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Stenehjem said he was “very pleased” by the decision.
Minnesotans whose North Dakota licenses were suspended in 2013 can now apply to the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation to have those licenses reinstated, the release stated.
