Free Gun Locks Available To The Public

By Andrew Gorosko

As part of its Project Child Safe gun safety program, the locally based National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) has distributed cable-style gun locks and related gun safety information to the town police department for free distribution to the public.

Police Sergeant Darlene Froehlich said the gun locks are available to the public free of charge at the police station at Town Hall South at 3 Main Street, telephone 426-5841.

The Newtown Police Department was among the police departments in Fairfield County that were slated to receive 172,000 gun locks last week.

The gun safety project is intended to make homes with firearms safer by raising awareness about the need for responsible firearm ownership and storage, according to NSSF.

The cable-style gun locks available at the police station may be used to secure autoloading pistols, revolvers, bolt-action rifles, and autoloading and pump-action shotguns. Information provided with the gun lock explains how the gun lock should be used with each of those types of firearms. The gun locks are operated by a key. Each lock comes with two keys.

It is the responsibility of firearms owners to know how to properly handle firearms and how to safely secure firearms stored within a home, according to NSSF. The organization urges that people who feel uncomfortable with, or who are unable to accept such responsibilities, not own any firearms.

General firearm safety requires that all firearms be kept locked in a safe place, away from children and from other people unauthorized to handle firearms. Ammunition should be stored under lock and key, separately from firearms.

Gun owners must read and understand the owner’s manual that came with their gun, according to NSSF.

Safe gun handling practices include keeping a gun’s muzzle pointed in safe direction, keeping fingers off the gun’s trigger, and keeping a gun unloaded when not in use, according to NSSF.