St. Paul City Council approves gun storage requirement

Frederick Melo, Pioneer Press
Updated ·3 min read
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The St. Paul City Council unanimously approved a new gun storage requirement that would require firearms to be trigger-locked or safely stored and secured when not on the owner.

The ordinance, authored by Council Member Rebecca Noecker and sponsored by all seven council members, makes it a criminal misdemeanor to store any firearm where another person might have easy access. The final version of the ordinance, which went through revision in recent weeks, no longer requires ammunition to be stored separately from the weapon.

The ordinance states it would apply to any person who “negligently stores or leaves a loaded or unloaded firearm unattended in a location where the person knows, or reasonably should know, that another person who is not an authorized user is likely to gain access, including a vehicle, unless reasonable action is taken to secure the firearm against said access with a locking device.”

The ordinance mirrors similar gun storage laws in New York City; Albany, N.Y.; San Francisco; and Sunnyvale, Calif.

“Guns are the leading cause of death among children and teens in Minnesota,” said Gretchen Damon, a volunteer with Moms Demand Action, addressing the city council following the 7-0 vote. “We must do better.”

Moms Demand Action worked closely with Noecker on the ordinance language, which underwent several reviews with the city attorney’s office to ensure it would stand up to potential legal challenges. The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus has said it would likely pursue legal action if the ordinance is enforced.

“We wanted to make sure we were responding to questions, specifically questions we got after the public hearing as to how this would work,” said Noecker, who worked through scenarios such as spousal access to an owner’s firearm. “We wanted the language to be clear, to be not confusing, and to respond to these specific situations.”

Advocates for gun owners’ rights have questioned whether gun storage mandates are constitutional under the 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, which in 2008 found that the requirement to keep guns in the home disassembled or nonfunctional with a trigger lock at all times violates the Second Amendment.

“Void under state preemption law,” said the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, in a social media posting on Wednesday, following the city council vote. “We will challenge this in court if enforced.”

Nevertheless, several states and multiple cities — including Minnesota — have implemented various forms of safe storage laws. Minnesota prohibits any person from leaving a loaded firearm in a location where a child under age 18 is likely to gain easy access.

In 2014, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld San Francisco’s gun codes, noting that the city’s safe storage rules specify that trigger locks or secure storage are required “when not carried on the person,” allowing more legal leeway than D.C.’s previous mandate.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said Wednesday that he looked forward to signing the ordinance into law. “This ordinance is a sensible step that will help reduce the number of stolen guns we experience in our city,” said the mayor, in a written statement.

Gov. Tim Walz, a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party, signed two new gun safety measures this month, including a “red flag law” and expanded background checks for gun transfers. The red flag law allows authorities to ask courts for risk protection orders to temporarily remove guns from people determined to be an imminent threat to themselves or others.

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