Police departments join gun lock program
Lolita Harper
Area police departments have joined a national effort to make homes
safer by handing out free gun locks starting Friday, police said.
Representatives from Project ChildSafe, an organization that
encourages responsible gun ownership and storage, will be at the
Newport Beach Police Department from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday with
free safety kits. Twenty-one other Orange County departments,
including Costa Mesa’s, will take part in the program, which plans to
distribute 1.2 million locks all over the state.
It’s important to get information out to the public so gun owners
can take advantage of every opportunity to make their firearms safer
in the home, Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve Shulman said.
“We want to offer these gun locks to people in our community and
make sure people know they are available,” Shulman said.
The widespread distribution of the locks, which are a “cable-style
safety device that requires the gun to be unloaded before it can
attach to the trigger guard, was made possible by a $50-million grant
from the Department of Justice that was divided among 44 states.
California received the highest number of locks, Shulman said.
Project ChildSafe is funded by the $50-million grant and is
managed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Doug Painter,
president of the foundation, said the locks are an important part of
overall gun safety but can in no way be considered a substitute for
other precautions, such as keeping guns in a safe, locked area.
“The combination of free gun-locking devices and in-depth safety
education component and distribution efforts in all 50 states will
significantly enhance public awareness of the importance of proper
gun storage in the home,” Painter said in a released statement.
The goals of Project ChildSafe fall in line with basic safety
principles that the department encourages, Shulman said.
“We thought it sounded like a worthwhile program, and as they got
closer to making this a reality, we partnered up with them to do
this,” Shulman said.
A number of gun locks will remain at participating stations for
people who cannot make it to the planned giveaway.
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