How to get a free gun lock from the City of Columbus
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- More than 1,200 cable gun locks have been distributed to community members since the city announced its "Love Our Children, Lock Your Guns" program about a month ago.
The locks can be picked up at any Columbus fire station between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Amber Broudas recently stopped at a fire station to get a couple.
“Feel better about the fact that now I have these locks, I don't have to worry about my children snooping and maybe coming across one of the pistols and accidentally hurting themselves or someone else," Broudas said. "The current lockbox I had really wasn’t secure at all so when I did my research on the type of locks they were giving away I was like ok that’s perfect."
She has a 12-year-old and 7-year-old at home and said they were her main motivation for picking up the locks.
“It's definitely a safety measure we need to take serious," Broudas said.
City leaders said there have been at least 15 accidental shootings so far this year, two deadly. In addition to preventing accidental shootings, they hope the program keeps guns out of kids' hands. It was first announced about a month ago. 5,000 cable gun locks were available at the start.
“1,200 or 1, if it makes an impact on one person's life, that's the goal and so yea the more we get out there the better this is," said Battalion Chief Jeffrey Geitter with the Columbus Division of Fire.
The Division of Fire has given out more than 1,100 locks, according to Geitter. Councilmembers have given out 102. Broudas hopes more are picked up.
"Think about yourself and the safety of your family first and do our part as a community to keep all of our community members safe," Broudas said. “So that's my message, I'm putting my family first."