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.