Here is the statute I think & is the one that I was told was/is the reason why Dunham Sports would not sell me one the day after I read the sale was on for them & went to the Red Wing, Mn. store to look at one in .45acp just to have as a cheap fun plinking handgun.
Evidently this is the MN Statute that applies:
624.712 Subd. 4.Saturday night special pistol.
"Saturday night special pistol" means a pistol other than an antique firearm or a pistol for which the propelling force is carbon dioxide, air or other vapor, or children's pop guns or toys, having a frame, barrel, cylinder, slide or breechblock:
(1) of any material having a melting point (liquidus) of less than 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, or
(2) of any material having an ultimate tensile strength of less than 55,000 pounds per square inch, or
(3) of any powdered metal having a density of less than 7.5 grams per cubic centimeter.
Source:
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/624.712
I am not sure just what criteria above is the deciding factor , or if there is more than one without more research, but that is what I was going on, when I posted my earlier post.
The law may or may not been in effect when your other pistols were obtained, or something like that. I have a HP .380 that came in a trade, and I enjoy firing it on occasion. I do not know where it came from other than the guy I got it from. It is not a bad shooter for what it costs, IMO.
Anyway, do not want to sidetrack too much, but that is "the skinny" on what I currently know about HP & MN sales...