MOA is pretty safe. I don't think that anyone has been murdered there yet this year. It's in east Bloomington, which is probably less safe than the other suburbs & west Bloomington. It is becoming very hispanic. If you have a choice, price-wise, stay on the east side of the Minnesota River in Inver Grove Heights, near Pilot Knob Road. Alternatively, the other rule-of-thumb would be to stay west of 35W.
Whatever hotel you stay at, check to see if they have a shuttle to MOA. Don't worry if they don't though. The traffic isn't too bad & the parking is free.
If you have any free time, the MN History Museum near downtown St. Paul is only a few years old & I understand that it is very nice. It's near the state capitol so take a few minutes & walk over to the capitol too. It's about 3 - 4 blocks north. Don't go north of the capitol on foot. Don't bother going down University Avenue. That is somewhat trashy & not worth your time, although if you go far enough, you will get to the University of MN campus which is very nice. It straddles the Mississippi River.
The Cathedral is about a block or 2 south of the museum & very cool. Go up Summit Ave. to see all of the cool old mansions & come back down Grand Ave. to see all of the yuppification. There are several nice university campuses in that area, St. Thomas, St. Catherines, & MacAlester. St. Thomas is the best.
Think F. Scott Fitzgerald & James J. Hill on Summit Ave. & Kofi Annan, a MacAlester graduate and former hot dog vendor, on both Grand & Summit.
Look at the schedule of gun shows tacked at the top of the MN HTF. There are a couple of good ones coming up at the MN State Fair grounds, one at the end of this month & one next month. They only charge $5 admission & DPMS will be there so you will have some EBRs to oogle.
If you have some free time after that, go for a drive. There is a lot of pretty country in this area. A nice drive would be to go south on 35W or 35E, which becomes just 35 in about 10 miles, to Cabela's in Owatonna & stop there for a couple of hours. (It's actually in Clinton Falls, not Owatonna, but it's well marked, so you can't miss it. Even if you drive right by it, you can get off at the next exit & take the frontage road back.) Then go a few miles south & get off at Hwy 14 & go east for about an hour to Rochester. Drive by Mayo Clinic & St. Mary's Hospital & then get on Hwy 52 northbound to The Cities. That will probably be the prettiest part of your trip, with the gently rolling hills & woods, but you will have seen a good, representative sampling of Minnesota in an afternoon's drive. The only real cool part that you will have missed is the great north woods & Lake Superior. Be sure to Mapquest that last part, from Rochester to your hotel in The Cities. There is a minor complication getting from Hwy 52 back to your hotel, assuming that you are staying near the 494 strip. You have to take MN Hwy 49(?) north for about a half a mile to catch 494 west.
An alternative route would be to 494 east to 94 east just into Wisconsin. Then catch WI Hwy 35 south & it roughly parallels the Mississippi. Drive as far as you like & then when you figure that you are halfway, cross the Mississippi & come back north on MN 61. You could go through Lake City & there is a Wild Wings gallery just south of the town. You could go through Red Wing which is all around very nice. The eagles might be migrating back along the Mississippi about now. Note that WI Hwy 35 is just a rural 2 lane road. Don't confuse it with 35W, 35E, or the rest of I35.
Keep your eyes open right near MOA. The MN River meets the Mississippi just a couple of miles north & I've seen eagles flying over 494. There is also a USFWS office near MOA & you can go in there during the week. I haven't been over there for a long time, but it seems like they have some stuffed game birds, etc.
Did anybody mention GunStop? It's the coolest little gun shop & hard to find. A couple of nice guys run it.
Also, think about going over to Ahlman's Guns if you are going to be near Cabela's. It's near Morristown, MN. They aren't exactly right next door to each other, but maybe 15 - 20 mile apart. INuh could give you directions.
Enjoy MN.