# Dakota County court *A county court of the State of Minnesota that in 2020 denied a petition to restore firearm rights to the man who carried out the February 18, 2024 Burnsville shooting.* The Dakota County court appears in the [[Minnesota]] record through one proceeding. In 2020 [[Shannon Gooden]] petitioned it to restore the gun rights he had lost for life through a 2007 Dakota County assault conviction.[^1] Prosecutors opposed the petition, and the court denied it.[^1] On February 18, 2024, three first responders were killed answering a sexual assault report at a home in [[Burnsville]] where seven children were present: police officers [[Paul Elmstrand]] and [[Matthew Ruge]] and firefighter-paramedic [[Adam Finseth]].[^1][^2] The shooter was Gooden, 38, who had five guns despite the court's denial.[^1] On March 14, 2024, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced the indictment of [[Ashley Dyrdahl]], a Burnsville woman, for straw purchasing firearms used in the shooting.[^2] She was sentenced to 45 months on September 10, 2025.[^3] The record therefore shows a prohibition that the court left in place in 2020, followed by firearms reaching the prohibited person through purchases made in another person's name.[^1][^2] The record does not establish the docket number, the judge, or the text of the written order. The denial is attested by press reporting of the court's holding, which also reports county data of 27 rights-restoration petitions in Dakota County as of February 2024.[^1] ## Who - The court is identified in the record only as a Dakota County court. The record does not name the judge who heard the 2020 petition.[^1] - Petitioner: Shannon Gooden, barred from possessing firearms for life by a 2007 Dakota County assault conviction.[^1] - Opposing party: prosecutors, who opposed the 2020 petition.[^1] - Killed on February 18, 2024: Burnsville officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge and firefighter-paramedic Adam Finseth.[^1][^2] - Ashley Dyrdahl, named in the federal straw-purchase indictment and later sentenced.[^2][^3] ## What - The court denied Gooden's 2020 petition to restore his firearm rights after prosecutors opposed it.[^1] - Gooden nonetheless held five guns at the time of the 2024 shooting.[^1] Federal prosecutors charged Dyrdahl with straw purchasing firearms used in the shooting.[^2] ## When - 2007: Gooden's Dakota County assault conviction barred him from possessing firearms for life.[^1] - 2020: Gooden petitioned the court to restore his gun rights. Prosecutors opposed, and the court denied the petition.[^1] - February 18, 2024: Elmstrand, Ruge and Finseth were killed in Burnsville.[^1][^2] - February 2024: Dakota County had 27 rights-restoration petitions, according to the reported county data.[^1] - March 14, 2024: Dyrdahl was indicted for straw purchasing.[^2] - September 10, 2025: Dyrdahl was sentenced to 45 months.[^3] ## Where - The court sits in Dakota County, Minnesota. The shooting took place at a home in Burnsville.[^1] ## How - The prohibition was decided in court, but it did not stop the firearms from reaching Gooden. The federal case alleges that they passed through straw purchases by another person, and that case ended in a 45-month sentence.[^2][^3] ## How many - Three first responders were killed, and seven children were present at the home.[^1][^2] - Gooden had five guns.[^1] - Dakota County had 27 rights-restoration petitions as of February 2024, according to the reported county data.[^1] ## In the at-issue record - The project's claims-exposure matrix lists this sequence as at-issue entry AI-Dakota-029, filed under *II. The Use-of-Force Ledger*.[^1] - The entry is anchored to the May 2026 presidential action *Restoring Integrity to America's Financial System*.[^4] The project's stated reason for the anchor is that the prohibition was not enforced at the point of purchase. That is the project's own framing; the record supports the sequence of denial, purchase, indictment and sentence.[^1][^2][^3] ## Notes [^1]: Fox 9, *Burnsville gunman wanted his firearm rights restored; this is why the system blocked him* (2024) — reports the 2007 conviction and lifetime bar, the 2020 petition, the prosecutors' opposition, the court's denial, and county data of 27 petitions as of February 2024; it is a source of at-issue entry AI-Dakota-029. https://www.fox9.com/news/burnsville-gunman-wanted-his-firearm-rights-restored-this-is-why-the-system-blocked-him [^2]: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, *Burnsville woman indicted for straw purchasing firearms used in fatal shooting of three first responders* (March 14, 2024) — announces the indictment of Ashley Dyrdahl. https://www.atf.gov/news/press-releases/burnsville-woman-indicted-straw-purchasing-firearms-used-fatal-shooting-three-first [^3]: CBS Minnesota, *Ashley Dyrdahl sentencing, Burnsville first responder shooting* (September 10, 2025) — reports the 45-month sentence. https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/ashley-dyrdahl-sentencing-burnsville-first-responder-shooting/ [^4]: The White House, *Restoring Integrity to America's Financial System* (May 2026) — the presidential action cited as the anchor of at-issue entry AI-Dakota-029. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/05/restoring-integrity-to-americas-financial-system/