Minnesota obtains significant policy changes and $1 million settlement from Fleet Farm for selling guns to straw buyers despite multiple warning signs

In settlement of Attorney General’s 2022 lawsuit, Fleet Farm agrees to implement changes in stores to prevent more sales to straw buyers

Documents to be made public showing Fleet Farm employee’s unheeded concerns about gun sales to straw purchasers; Fleet Farm later used those concerns as “pretty obvious” example of what should “raise a flag” in internal training

February 24, 2026 (SAINT PAUL) — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced today that he has resolved the October 2022 lawsuit he filed on behalf of the State of Minnesota against Fleet Farm for negligently selling firearms to straw purchasers. The consent judgment with Fleet Farm comes after Attorney General Ellison’s Office prevailed in court last fall over Fleet Farm’s attempt to obtain summary judgment and dismiss the lawsuit. In the settlement, Attorney General Ellison has obtained significant policy changes from Fleet Farm that will keep Minnesotans safer, as well as a $1 million monetary payment.

“I took Fleet Farm to court after the company put the lives of Minnesotans in danger by ignoring clear warning signs and selling guns to straw buyers,” said Attorney General Ellison. “The warning signs that Fleet Farm ignored were so clear that Fleet Farm themselves went on to use those sales as examples of obvious red flags in internal trainings. On behalf of the people of Minnesota, we are holding them to account for that callous behavior. Today’s settlement forces the company to significantly change their internal policies to protect the people of Minnesota and imposes a substantial financial penalty on them.

“In our criminal justice system, we hold individuals accountable who harm others, and it is right that we do so,” added Ellison. “We do not need to stop there, though: we can also hold corporations like Fleet Farm accountable under civil law when they sell firearms to people they should suspect will re-sell those guns to dangerous individuals. This outcome should serve as a clear warning to any other gun dealers or retailers who would put their profit ahead of Minnesotans’ safety.”

"Every family in Minnesota that has been devastated by gun violence, or lived in fear of it, deserves accountability from those who could have prevented it. This settlement forces Fleet Farm to change the practices that allowed guns to flow into the wrong hands and put communities at risk," said Professor Megan Walsh, director of the University of Minnesota Law School's Gun Violence Prevention Clinic. "For our students, this wasn't just a case; it was a chance to use the law on behalf of Minnesotans, survivors, and Minnesota communities impacted by gun violence. We hope our partnership with Attorney General Ellison on this case means fewer families will suffer the harm that made this lawsuit necessary in the first place."

In the consent judgment that Attorney General Ellison and Fleet Farm filed in federal court today, Fleet Farm agrees to take multiple, significant steps across their Minnesota stores to improve Fleet Farm’s detection and prevention of possible straw buying, including:

The settlement also provides that within 60 days of the court’s approval of the consent judgment, Attorney General Ellison will disclose internal Fleet Farm documents that his office obtained in discovery and used in depositions and in court. Those documents include warnings a store manager raised about straw sales, which Fleet Farm ignored. They will also include training materials Fleet Farm created that describe those sales to straw buyers “pretty obvious” examples of what should “raise a flag.” The Attorney General will also make public all deposition transcripts and expert reports from the lawsuit.

Fleet Farm will also be required to pay $1,000,000 to resolve the Attorney General’s lawsuit.

Fleet Farm sold guns to straw buyers, many of which have not been recovered by law enforcement

In October 2022, Attorney General Ellison filed his lawsuit against Fleet Farm, in which he alleged that the company negligently sold firearms to straw purchasers, aided and abetted those criminals, and contributed to gun trafficking in Minnesota by allowing guns to get into the wrong hands.  The Court denied Fleet Farm’s motion to dismiss in June 2023, holding that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act—a federal law granting the firearms industry widespread protection from litigation—did not bar the Attorney General’s lawsuit. In June 2024, the Attorney General added claims under the Minnesota Gun Control Act to the action.

In October 2025, United States District Judge John Tunheim rejected Fleet Farm’s arguments that the State’s civil enforcement action lacked sufficient evidence to proceed to trial. The Court’s order recognized that licensed firearms dealers “are the first line of defense” against straw purchasing. The State’s lawsuit directly concerns public safety for Minnesotans, as the Court recognized: “The State challenges 37 separate [firearm sales] over many months, and the majority of the firearms sold in those transactions remain at large. Those unrecovered firearms pose an ongoing public safety threat to Minnesotans as a whole.”

The Court’s summary judgment decision detailed the circumstances of Fleet Farm’s sales to two straw purchasers, Jerome Horton and Sarah Elwood, and how one of the guns Fleet Farm sold to Jerome Horton was used in a mass shooting at the Truck Park Bar in St. Paul that ended in the death of 27-year-old Marquisha Wiley and injured 14 bystanders.

The Court even described the concerns raised about these sales internally by a Fleet Farm sales manager: “In fact, on July 31, 2021, Cory Klebs, a Fleet Farm manager for the Blaine store, reported his concern that Horton was a straw purchaser to Michelle Granato, one of Fleet Farm’s firearms compliance employees.” The Court noted, however, that Klebs “apparently never heard back” about his concerns. The Court further highlighted that Fleet Farm’s two firearms compliance employees provided a company training on “suspicious sales activity” using Fleet Farm’s very sales of guns to straw buyer Jerome Horton in July 2021 as a “pretty obvious” example of what “should raise a flag” and cause “the employee’s radar [to] be up.”

Attorney General Ellison continues to hold corporations accountable for harming public safety

Individuals who commit criminal acts should be held accountable for those acts in the criminal-justice system. The Attorney General is an active partner in criminal prosecution in Minnesota: the Criminal Division of the Attorney General’s Office assists county attorneys across Minnesota upon their request in prosecuting individuals who have committed serious violent crimes, and has a long track record of winning convictions.

At the same time, when corporations create conditions that contribute to harming public safety, then refuse to rectify those conditions when they become aware of them, they should also be held accountable. Holding corporations civilly accountable is not a substitute for criminally prosecuting individuals who harm others; rather, it complements criminal prosecution by holding corporate actors farther upstream accountable for their role in creating conditions that harm the safety of the public and facilitate individual criminal acts.

Attorney General Ellison’s settlement with Fleet Farm is the latest example of his pioneering use of civil law to complement criminal prosecution in holding actors accountable for harming public safety. Other examples include: