Staff report
The Salisbury Police Department and the Salisbury/Rowan Project SAFE Neighborhoods program are providing free firearm safety locks to local residents.
The offer comes through a partnership with Project ChildSafe, a nationwide firearms safety education program.
Safety locks will be distributed at the Salisbury Police Department between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The department received 200 locks and will distribute them until they are gone.
Project ChildSafe, a program developed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, has distributed more than 35 million firearm safety locks throughout the country since 2003.
The program is funded by a U.S. Department of Justice grant, with additional funding provided by the firearms industry, a statement said.
“We encourage residents to pick up a gun safety lock so that they can securely store their firearms,” said Salisbury Police Deputy Chief Rory Collins.
Collins also serves as the Director of the Project SAFE Neighborhoods program for Salisbury/Rowan.
“Each lock contains a safety curriculum and a cable-style gun lock. The locks fit on most types of handguns, rifles and shotguns. The goal is to prevent a child or any other unauthorized person from accessing a firearm in your home,” Collins said.
By partnering with Project ChildSafe, the Salisbury Police Department and Project SAFE Neighborhoods are participating in a national effort to promote firearms safety education to all gun owners.
Project ChildSafe will distribute gun safety locks to all 50 states and the five U.S. territories.
This program provides an important step toward ensuring that all firearms owners fully understand their responsibilities with respect to the safe handling and storage of firearms, the statement said.