The Athens Police Department began handing out 200 firearm safety kits provided by Project Childsafe to Athens residents Monday.
Each kit includes a safety curriculum on handling firearms and how to store them, as well as a cable-style gunlock that fits most handguns, rifles and shotguns. The lock meets the California AB1006 standard, and operating instructions for the lock are provided in the kit.
The kits will be distributed to Athens residents on a first-come, first-serve basis, with a limit of three per family, through January 23. They can be picked up from a box located inside the police station.
If any gunlocks are left after Jan. 23rd, they will be distributed to Athens residents until they are gone.
Gun safety is an issue no matter where you are
said APD Chief Richard Mayer. Most non-felonious crimes with firearms are a result of people not being able to safely handle a gun, he said.
Mayer said the timing of the distribution of firearm safety kits is not related to the new law that will give Ohioans the right to carry concealed handguns.
Residents who own a firearm are encouraged to get a kit in order to safely store their firearms and to prevent any child or other unauthorized person access to one.
Project Childsafe is an outreach program formed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation to promote firearm safety education to all gun owners. A grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as additional funding from the firearms industry, supports the program.
Andy Ellinger, spokesman for Athens County Children Services, said Project Childsafe sounds like a great program. It is always good to be cautious, he said.
We hope that any family that owns a gun would get (a firearm safety kit) he said.
Jeff Mardis, the manager of Ohio Valley Trading and Exchange, 25 E. Stimson Ave., said the kit's cable lock should fit most rifles, shotguns and handguns sold there. However, the trigger lock, which is required on new firearms, works as effectively as the cable lock.
Project Childsafe will distribute millions of kits across the country this year. More than 600 police departments and 91 sheriff departments in Ohio will participate in the program.
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The Athens Sheriff's Department provides 40-calibur Glock Model 22 handguns for use during regular work shifts.
