With seven cases of young people seriously injured in Ramsey County since 2021 due to unsafe or improper firearm storage in a residence, County Attorney John Choi reminded the public Monday that free gun locks are available across the county.

“A lot of … gun violence that we have in our community is preventable,” he said.

The goal is preventing accidental shootings, suicide and domestic violence, leaders in Ramsey County said at a Monday press conference about the gun locks.

One out of four women will experience domestic violence in a lifetime and, if a firearm is present, the risk of a victim experiencing serious injury or death increases by over 400 percent, said Shelley Johnson Cline, executive director of the St. Paul and Ramsey County Domestic Abuse Intervention Project.

An 8-year-old boy recently died after he was shot in Burnsville. His mother said the child’s father was aiming a gun at her and her son was trying to get the gun away when the man accidentally shot their child.

“For victims, quick access to a gun, whether it belongs to the abuse partner or not, can be a matter of life and death,” Johnson Cline said. “Stopping or suspending that access will save lives.”

For as much media attention as firearm homicides receive, suicides with firearms occur more often, pointed out Tyrone Terrill, president of the African American Leadership Council. Between 2018 and 2022, there were 1,855 Minnesotans who died from firearm suicide, which represented 46 percent of all suicide deaths, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.

“We need to bring more awareness, more education,” Terrill said.

The gun lock program in Ramsey County was launched in 2016 and began as a partnership between the Ramsey County attorney’s and sheriff’s offices, and the public health department. Free cable gun locks are still available at various community centers and libraries, with a list available at bit.ly/RamseyCogunlocks.

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