MARSHALL — A new Minnesota law would make it legal to use rifles for deer hunting in southern Minnesota starting in 2026. But Lyon County Commissioners are going to be looking at whether they should take steps for the county to opt out of rifle hunting.

This week, commissioners set a date for a public listening session, to gather feedback on whether to opt out of the new law.

“I think it would be more beneficial to give the people a chance to talk to us,” said Commissioner Rick Anderson. “This is one that we should be listening to the constituents.”

The listening session is planned for September 2, at 6 p.m. in the lower level of the Lyon County Law Enforcement Center.

At Tuesday’s county board meeting, commissioners talked about how to proceed with the new law. Starting in the 2026 deer hunting season, southern Minnesota will no longer be in a shotgun-only zone. Any legal guns can be used for deer hunting on public land.

However, the new law also allows counties that were previously in the shotgun zone to opt out of allowing rifle hunting. They would need to follow a procedure to contest the new law, that includes holding public meetings, Anderson said.

Earlier this spring, Freeborn County Commissioners voted to exempt the county from the bill repealing shotgun zones.

Commissioners had mixed opinions on the new law.

“I did reach out to (Rep. Chris) Swedzinski yesterday, and asked him what his thinking was on this bill. And he gave all the pluses, and talked about other states using rifles,” Commissioner Todd Draper said. Draper said Swedzinski told him data didn’t show an increase in fatal hunting accidents in states that allowed deer hunting with rifles.

Commissioners said it was hoped that opening up rifle hunting in southern Minnesota would encourage more hunters and a larger deer harvest.

Draper said he had spoken to some younger hunters, who did use rifles.

“People my age, they don’t like the idea of bullets traveling further if you miss the target,” he said. There was a concern that a bullet could keep going and accidentally hit buildings, vehicles or people.

“They’re thinking that they will get a better harvest. But the number of hunters keep going down. I don’t know that the harvest is going to increase at all,” Anderson said.

“To me, that’s kind of more of a reason, where it doesn’t matter what you use, because there’s fewer and fewer (hunters),” said Commissioner Paul Graupmann.

“There’s been multiple upper Midwestern states which have already done this, and they’ve had time to do studies, and they don’t see any safety difference,” Graupmann said of allowing deer hunting with rifles. The Minnesota DNR had originally established the shotgun hunting zone in response to a low deer population in the region, and not because of safety concerns, Graupmann said.

At the end of the day, Draper said, “I don’t think, as a county commissioner, I want to tell people what guns they can use and can’t use.”

“I can agree with that to a certain point,” Anderson said. “Then, they should have just left the counties out of it absolutely, and said that the DNR is the one that made this decision, and the Legislature.”

“I agree 100% on that. They’re throwing the county under the bus, so that we have to look like the bad guys,” said Commissioner Gary Crowley.

After discussion, commissioners’ consensus was that they shouldn’t make a decision on the matter without getting public input. They set the September 2 date for a public listening session.