Free gun lock kits available

The South Jordan Police Department announced this week that 600 gun locks are available at its Public Safety Building, 1600 W. Town Center Drive (10600 South).

South Jordan is one of 117 law enforcement agencies throughout the state that have been given gun locks by the national advocacy group Project ChildSafe.

The group is part of the Project HomeSafe program developed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). The group recently received a $50 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to purchase 20 million gun locks to be distributed nationwide.

One of the states targeted for the month of March is Utah. A total of 133,000 locks are expected to be passed out in the Beehive State this month.

South Jordan officer Ryan Meng said his department was very pleased to receive the gunlocks, especially in light of an accidental shooting that claimed the life of a 12-year-old boy this past September. The boy was shot accidentally by his 14-year-old friend who found the gun in a car.

"We want to do everything we can to prevent this from happening again," Meng said.

During the past four years there have been several other suicide attempts involving juveniles as well as the fatal accident in South Jordan. Meng said a gun lock probably won't deter someone who is determined to get a weapon.

But for others thinking about suicide or those wanting to play with a gun, "(a gun lock) might have deterred them a little bit," he said. "Locks are there so accidents don't happen. If we can deter one person it's well worth the time getting this out."

The goal of Project ChildSafe is to "promote safe firearms handling and storage practices among all firearms owners through the distribution of key safety education messages and free gun locking devices," according to its Web site.

E-mail: preavy@desnews.com

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