With the rise in gun violence and school shootings in recent years, many people want to know more about ways they can take action to help prevent such senseless acts of violence.
Public Health — Seattle King County and the Seattle Seahawks are partnering this week to offer one specific and essential action to prevent curious kids from getting hurt with firearms, youth and adults in crisis from using a family firearm for suicide, and firearms from being stolen and misused by others: get a free gun lockbox.
3,000 lockboxes
As a part of King County’s 100 Days of Action against gun violence, Public Health — Seattle King County is expanding its ongoing work to distribute free gun lockboxes to anyone in King County. The department will host a free gun lockbox giveaway on September 26. The giveaway event, in partnership with the Seahawks, will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Lumen Field’s Muckleshoot Plaza. Public health says the plan is to give away 3,000 free gun lockboxes. The event will also feature a resource fair highlighting community organizations that provide violence-prevention services and care around King County.
“Gun violence is a serious issue that affects everyone,” Mario Bailey, Seattle Seahawks Vice President of Community Engagement & Legends, said in a post on the health department’s blog Public Health Insider. “These lockboxes will undoubtedly save lives, so we are proud to support King County and Public Health’s Regional Office of Gun Violence Prevention in their efforts to increase gun safety in our community through the Lock It Up initiative.”
Why safe gun storage is so important
“Ensuring firearms are safely stored and locked when not in use is one way to keep guns out of the pipeline that fuels community violence,” the department wrote. “Firearms stolen from private owners often end up being used in other crimes. It’s particularly important that gun owners extend safe storage practices to their cars, not just their homes. The most common place for guns to be reported stolen in King County is from motor vehicles. The free gun lockboxes we’ll be distributing at the event on September 26th are small enough to easily fit in your vehicle.”
Kids are curious. Most love to explore and play with things that have moving parts. Placing guns in lockboxes reduces the risk that that curiosity will get them unintentionally hurt or killed.
When someone is in a mental health crisis, having a gun safely stored may be the difference between life and death, county health officials point out.
“We know that impulsivity plays a significant role in suicide attempts; easy access to highly lethal means, such as firearms, increases risk,” the department said in its blog announcement of the upcoming lockbox event. “While we often talk about gun violence in terms of tragic homicides, the truth is that even more gun deaths (70% in King County) are suicides. Evidence shows that restricting access to lethal means is an effective way to reduce suicide. Any form of gun violence, whether a suicide, homicide, or an accident, is a tragic event that secure gun storage can help to prevent.”
For more data about firearm storage and theft in King County, visit our firearm storage data dashboard.
Tips on safe storage
County health officials point out there are several options for safely storing a gun, including securing it in a locked safe or a lockbox or with a trigger lock or cable lock. Guns should only be accessible to gun owners and those they trust. Children and other unauthorized should never be given the location of the key or the combination of a gunlock.
Firearms should be stored unloaded, with ammunition stored in a separate locked container.
Event details
The lockbox giveaway will happen on September 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Lumen Field’s Muckleshoot Plaza. All ages welcome. Boxes are free while supplies last.
For more information on safe storage devices and where to buy them, go to King County’s Lock it Up Program webpage.
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