Friday, Aug. 01, 2008

Sheriff's Department gives away free gun locks

Free gun locks soon will be available to Johnson County residents.

The Sheriff’s Department partnered with Project ChildSafe, a national firearm safety program, to distribute safety kits, which include a gun lock, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day next week at the Johnson County Fair in Gardner.

Project ChildSafe was started as a grass-roots effort in 2000 by Connecticut-based National Shooting Sports Foundation, and it grew as the program received more funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, National Coordinator Cari Crockett said.

Since that time, she said, Project ChildSafe has distributed more than 35 million gun locks to law enforcement agencies in all 50 states including more than 100,000 in Kansas.

Crockett said the goal of the program was to promote firearm safety to lower the chances of a gun falling into the hands of a child.

Master Deputy Tom Erickson, a sheriff’s spokesman, said the department had been working with Project ChildSafe for the last three years.

“For any family, the most important thing is the safety of the kids,” he said. “...Locking a gun up is the only way to ensure that it’s safe.”

Each Project ChildSafe safety kit contains a user’s manual and a cable-style gun lock. The locks, which require many types of firearms be unloaded first, fit most handguns, rifles and shotguns.

Erickson said residents also could pick up gun locks from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the week at the Sheriff’s Operations Center, 27747 W. 159th St. at New Century AirCenter.

For more information, call 791-5400.

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