cuchulainn
Member
Um, speaking of gun safety, check out the picture
from the Freeport Journal Standard
http://www.journalstandard.com/articles/2003/11/24/local_news/news32.txt
from the Freeport Journal Standard
http://www.journalstandard.com/articles/2003/11/24/local_news/news32.txt
Monday November 24, 2003
Spreading the gun-lock gospel
Area police to distribute 700 gun-locks through Project ChildSafe
By Gary Mays, The Journal-Standard
FREEPORT -- Clyde Still - that's "Clyde like Bonnie and Still like whiskey" - stood in front of the Stephenson County Public Safety Building on Sunday afternoon, ready to make a delivery to Stephenson County Sheriff Dave Snyders.
And with the zeal of a tent-revival preacher, Still explained the importance of the 700 or so yellow and black gun locks he was delivering to the county, as Snyders busily stacked box after box of the simple but effective devices onto a wheeled cart.
It was the Albany, N.Y.-native's last stop of the day in the county, and the latest in a whirlwind tour of the Midwest in which he has spread his message of gun safety.
"A trigger-lock is better than nothing at all, but a cable lock is better than a trigger-lock," Still said, a fistful of gun-safety information in one hand and a plastic-wrapped gun lock in the other. "And a good gun safe is better than just about anything."
Still and his organization, Project ChildSafe, are betting the 698,000 cable gun locks they are distributing in Illinois will go a long way toward saving children's lives by preventing accidental gun deaths. Nationwide distribution of the gun locks is funded by a $50 million U.S. Dept. of Justice grant, enough to purchase up to 20 million of the devices.
The locks work when a gun owner threads the cable through a handgun or rifle, interfering with the weapon's action and rendering them inoperable. Each gun-lock comes with instructions for proper use and a set of two keys that fit into a padlock that secures the cable on both ends.
"I'll go all over the country before it is all over," said Still, whose truck is emblazoned with the Project ChildSafe logo and gun safety messages. "This is one of the most important things I will ever do."
In addition to the 700 locks that will be distributed by the Sheriff's Department, 200 will be available at Freeport Police headquarters. Another 200 will go to police in Lena and German Valley, said Snyders. Pearl City, Durand, Pecatonica, Warren, Stockton, Hanover, Polo and Jo Daviess County also are on the regional distribution list.
"This is timed pretty well," Snyders said, noting the delivery of the gun locks coincides with the advent of gun deer season, when hunters have their weapons out and visible to youngsters.
Snyders also received a stack of educational videotapes and a placard to place in the department's window, advertising the availability of the devices to area gun owners and hunters. Several models are available for different guns. Those interested in a free gun lock should contact their local police or sheriff's department.
Grim statistics illustrate the importance of securing guns, officials say. According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control data provided by kidsandguns.org, an online gun-safety group, an average of four children died every day from non-homicide firearm incidents from 1996 to 2001. During that same period, 1,530 children were killed in firearm accidents.
Guns are present in 40 percent of U.S. households with children. And in households with children and firearms, 40 percent had at least one unlocked firearm and 13 percent kept their unlocked firearm loaded or stored with ammunition, according to a 2001 RAND Corp. study.
That's why, according to Snyders, even antique guns on display or those kept out of children's reach need to be secured with a lock.
"Even though it is unloaded, it is your responsibility to make it safe," Snyders said. "You have got to lock them up."
But even Project ChildSafe acknowledges that no gun is ever totally secure. A warning inside the organization's brochure says, "This lock may be defeated by a determined individual using tools or other aggressive means and may not prevent intentional misuse of a firearm."
Copyright © 2003 The Journal-Standard