Summary:

I would use my million dollars to bring together a group of St. Paul stakeholders determined to reduce the number of shootings and deaths of children from infancy to adulthood in St. Paul.

First, I would document the number of children killed by guns in St. Paul over the last thirty years to get a baseline and a determination of exactly what types of gun deaths the city has experienced over time.

Second, I would provide gun locks, lockable gun cases and gun safes at a reasonable price to gun owners.

Third, I would institute gun safety Public Service Announcement (PSA) programs in the media, over the Internet, on billboards and fast food place mats, etc. The first gun safety program would be geared towards parents where they would be asked to put locks on their guns and to lock their guns away in cases or safes so that their children of any age could not get them, ever. The campaign would highlight the number of St. Paul children shoot and/or killed over the years because they found their parents or caregivers gun. There would be PSAs for small children giving names, dates, times, locations, incidents, results of the child finding the gun. There would also be PSAs of school age children taking their own gun or their parents guns to school and either shooting or killing a classmate, teacher, principal or self. There would be PSAs of school age children who used a gun in their home to commit suicide. We would have a blunt, direct conversation of exactly what has been happening with guns when children get them.

I would also include the National Rifle Associations (NRA) "Eddie Eagle," program and make sure that it's played in all pre-schools, nurseries and schools for all the children and stress the importance of never pointing a gun at another person, ever.

I would also consider what the NRA has said about video games and allowing children to watch violent movies. I would have parent groups discuss this topic and decide what needs to be done.