New signs aim to discourage
panhandling; promote gun laws

By Jake Spitzack | Staff Writer | January 2025

Rather than handing out cash to panhandlers at busy intersections, the City of St. Paul is encouraging people to invest their money in established support systems that aim to create lasting change for people living in poverty. The City has installed signs at high traffic intersections around town as part of a new initiative dubbed “Be the Solution.” The signs have a crossed-out image of a hand giving a coin to another, and they point people to stpaul.gov/solutions. The website has information about measures that Ramsey County is taking to reduce poverty and details on how to donate to charitable organizations.

Part of the initiative’s mission is to increase safety in roadways for both drivers and panhandlers. It also encourages those in need to seek longer-lasting help instead of relying on temporary relief. Panhandling is not illegal, and other cities nationwide have adopted similar initiatives.

The city’s Homeless Action Response Team regularly visits every homeless encampment in the city to provide helpful resources, including ways to find proper shelter. The team accepts donations of bus cards or tokens, bottles of water, nonperishable snacks and garbage bags. If you are interested in donating, visit stpaul.gov/solutions.

Other signs have recently appeared at city-owned parking ramps promoting gun safety. The St. Paul Downtown Alliance, in partnership with the City of St. Paul and St. Paul Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense, is having them installed at 24 city-owned ramps, making it known that Minnesota law requires guns to be securely stored in unattended vehicles. This initiative follows gun storage ordinances passed in the city in fall 2023, partly in response to a shooting in 2021 at the Seventh Street Truck Park bar, which left one woman dead and 15 injured.

“We’re really pleased that we can work with the leaders of downtown to make it safer because I think a safe downtown is a visited downtown,” said Gretchen Damon, spokesperson for St. Paul Mom’s Demand Action. “If downtown is safe, if there aren’t rumors or stories going around about shootings, people will come…. Prevention of violence is hard to mark and hard to see, but it’s really the key to keeping the area and the community safe.”

Damon said criminals will commonly rifle through a dozen cars because they know they’re likely to find
at least one gun. Weapons not properly locked up and secured can be easily stolen and used for violent crimes or sold on the black market. Leaving a gun unsecured in a vehicle is a misdemeanor. As of press time, three signs had been installed.

In 2022, the City of St. Paul launched project PEACE, which stands for Prevention/Intervention, Environmental Design, Accountability/Outreach, Community Action and Enforcement. The program, which is part of the Office of Neighborhood Safety, assists victims of gun crimes and strives to deter gun violence in the city by connecting individuals with a history of gun violence with various support services. For more information, visit stpaul.gov/departments/neighborhood-safety.

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