Safe Gun Storage Signs Installed in Downtown St. Paul Parking Ramps

St. Paul Moms Demand Action, the local chapter of a gun safety advocacy group, recently celebrated the installation of seven signs being installed at parking garages in downtown St. Paul, highlighting the City’s gun safety ordinances.

Working with the St. Paul Downtown Alliance and Councilmember Rebecca Noecker’s office, the signs have been installed in prominent places in City-owned ramps within the Downtown Improvement District (DID).

Noecker said that Moms demand action really drove the partnership as a way to raise awareness about the new gun laws.

“A new ordinance is only as good as the paper it is written on,” said Noecker. “I’m really appreciative of Moms Demand Action. They were creative and persistent in finding ways for people to know about the ordinance.”

For the Downtown Alliance, it was an easy win for them to help get the word out.

“It seemed like a good, positive public service announcement and public safety initiative,” said John Brandamer, Director of Safety Strategies for the DID. 

The signage, installed at entrances and elevator banks within the ramps, brings awareness to the City’s gun safety ordinances. Passed in May 2023, the ordinance requires that all guns be safely secured with trigger locks when not in the owner’s possession, making it a crime to leave firearms unattended, unsecured or in a place where it could be accessed. Someone found to not have their firearm secured could face up to 90 days in jail or confiscation of their weapon. 

According to Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest source of gun thefts is from cars, with about one gun theft from a car every nine minutes. Too often, those stolen weapons are used in other crimes.

Brandamer said that, while guns being stolen from cars in downtown St. Paul isn’t as big of a problem as it is nationally, getting the message out is still important, especially with many people coming into town for events from places where there are not such rules in place..

“We want to remind people coming into downtown of the rules,” he said.

Gretchen Damon, a spokesperson for Moms Demand Action, said that she hopes the signs will raise awareness of the ordinance, and more importantly, increase public safety in downtown St. Paul.

“A safe downtown is a visited downtown,” she said.

Brandamer said that they plan to continue the program to other parking ramps and lots within downtown in the coming months as the DID expands to include the eastern half of downtown in 2025