** NEWS  RELEASE **

mlpd_3-23-10.jpgProject ChildSafe ® Comes to Mammoth

MLPD to Distribute Gun Locks

The Mammoth Lakes Police Department (MLPD) will be providing free firearm safety kits to local residents through a partnership with Project ChildSafe, the nationwide firearms safety education program.   The safety kits, which include a gun lock are available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the MLPD station located at 568 Old Mammoth Road.

Project ChildSafe, a program developed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, has distributed more than 35 million firearm safety kits throughout the country since 2003.  The program is supported by the U.S. Department of Justice and the firearms industry.

“We encourage residents to pick up a Project ChildSafe safety kit so that they can securely store their firearms,” said MLPD Chief Dan Watson.  “Each kit contains a safety curriculum and cable-style gun lock.  The locks fit 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.”

By partnering with Project ChildSafe, the MLPD is participating in a national effort to  promote firearms safety education to all gun owners.  Project ChildSafe will distribute gun lock safety kits to all 50 states and the five U.S. territories.

“We are pleased to have the Mammoth Lakes Police Department as a Project ChildSafe partner,” said Bill Brassard Jr., director of Project ChildSafe.  “Project ChildSafe is an important step forward in helping ensure that all firearm owners fully understand their responsibilities with respect to the safe handling and storage of firearms.”

According to Chief Watson, “Although the gun locks provided with the safety kits meet the requirement of California AB 106 as a Department of Justice-approved safety device, we encourage everyone who owns a firearm to store it in a location inaccessible to children or other unauthorized persons.  Ammunition should be stored in a separate location.  A key goal of the program is to prevent a loaded firearm from being left lying around the house where a child could pick it up and play with it.  That’s a tragedy waiting to happen.”

There is no cost for the gun safety kits and residents who get them are not required to provide any information to the Police Department.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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