Columbus City Council votes Monday on a plan to purchase gun locks and give them away for free.
The proposal would purchase 1,500 cable gun locks and distribute them at Columbus fire stations. Columbus Fire Captain Matt Parrish said the program is meant to deter accidental shootings, and it fits in other public safety efforts they’ve led in the past.
“We’ve done similar programs with like smoke detectors or carbon monoxide and fans from different times to get those distributed to the community," Parrish said. "Fire stations are in every neighborhood.”
The measure will cost the city about $8,500, and it joins a similar program led by the public health department giving away gun lockboxes.
Public health section chief Marian Stuckey leads the Columbus CARE Coalition which distributes the lockboxes. She said the more offerings the better.
“The more that we can get out the better,” Stuckey said, “The more that we can have people more educated on safely storing firearms, it’s going to make a huge difference in those accidental or non-intentional discharges.”
