Los Angeles County health officials on Tuesday, April 2 began a program that will distribute 60,000 gun safety locks to the public free of charge.
“Far too many families have experienced the terrible pain of losing a child or teenager to gun violence,” Barbara Ferrer, county director of Public Health, said in a statement. “In a number of these cases, the simple act of locking and safely storing firearms would have prevented a tragedy. Fostering a culture of safety within the community begins with simple steps like securing firearms and protecting our children.”
The distribution effort, led by the county’s Office of Violence Prevention in the Department of Public Health, will initially offer the free locks at six medical facilities:
— Harbor-UCLA Medical Center;
— High Desert Regional Health Center;
— Los Angeles General Medical Center;
— Martin Luther King Jr. Outpatient Center;
— Olive View-UCLA Medical Center; and
— Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center.
Later this year, the locks will be made available at county libraries.
The county Board of Supervisors voted late last year to advance a program for free distribution of the devices.
“Gun locks can save lives — especially in households with children,” Supervisor Janice Hahn said in a statement after that vote. “Some studies have found that people are more likely to use gun locks if they are given to them by their doctor or in a medical center to take home and I think it is a concept we should explore for our own County hospitals.”
According to the county Department of Public Health, a child is killed or injured by gun violence in Los Angeles County every 30 hours, with some of those injuries blamed on guns that were left loaded or unlocked. Health officials also said that in 2022, there were more than 300 gun-related suicides in the county.
“If guns are not safely stored or locked, it can lead to devastating and fatal consequences,” Supervisor Hilda Solis said after the board’s November vote. “Gun owners may assume that their families know how to handle a gun, however, if it’s not safely stored or locked, serious injuries or death may result. Hospitals are where many victims end up, and to that end, we can use the opportunity to both educate and provide them with a tangible resource to better protect them and their families from guns — gun locks.”
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