Gun locks promised by Abbott available

A fraction of the free devices ready long after pledge made in wake of ’18 school massacre

AUSTIN — After the Santa Fe school shooting in 2018, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott pledged to make $1 million in gun locks available to the public free of charge.

More than a year later, however, only a fraction of the locks have been distributed, frustrating gun control advocates who say safe storage is key in keeping firearms from children and those at risk of suicide. A report in July showed that Texas led the nation in the number of unintentional shootings by children in the first half of 2019.

“If people would have their firearms safely stored ... any delay and deny can save lives,” said Gyl Switzer, Texas Gun Sense executive director.

Abbott’s office said the timing of the grant is why the first payment for gun locks was made to the National Shooting Sports Foundation last month.

Since then, the gun industry trade group has shipped 10,000 gun locks — of the roughly 625,000 the grant is expected to fund — to Texas law enforcement agencies that then distribute them to the public, National Shooting Sports Foundation spokesman Bill Brassard said in a statement.

The foundation’s Project Childsafe kits include a safety brochure and a cable gun lock. Twenty-nine agencies have requested the kits to date, ranging from the Bexar County Sheriff's Office to the Dallas Police Department and the Alvin ISD police department, Brassard said.

“We’re pleased the program is up and running and encourage all Texas communities to take advantage of it,” he said.

Making gun locks accessible is one step state Republican leaders have taken after a series of mass shootings over the last two years in Santa Fe, Sutherland Springs, El Paso and Midland-Odessa.

While legislators have been reluctant to impose any new restrictions on guns — and this year made it easier for Texans to carry firearms in schools and places of worship — they funded a $1 million campaign to promote safe gun storage that is expected to roll out next year.

That is in addition to the gun lock grant, which Abbott promised after the shooting at Santa Fe High School that officials said was carried out by a teenager using his father’s guns.

“Now, I am not suggesting, and I

would not promote, mandatory purchase of gun locks,” Abbott said in May 2018 while unveiling a slate of gun safety recommendations. “I do have in my plan proposals for funding by the state, by a grant program from the governor’s office, to work with a proven organization to provide gun locks for all people who want it.”

Though Abbott announced the funding in 2018, grant applications had already closed for the year, his office said, so the National Shooting Sports Foundation was officially awarded the money in April. The first payment of $417,750 went out the door last month, public records show.

It’s not clear when the rest of the grant will be paid out or how many more law enforcement agencies will request the kits. The Newtown, Conn.-based National Shooting Sports Foundation expects to continue shipping gun lock kits to Texas police forces through at least the first half of 2020, Brassard said.

“The goal is not to just ship locks and deplete the inventory as fast as possible but to have successful distributions in communities so that the gun locks as well as the educational messages to securely store firearms when not in use are received and put to use by gun owners,” he said.

Switzer said free gun locks “are always a good thing,” but said she would evaluate the project with skepticism “since NSSF is the lobby arm for gun manufacturers.”

Brassard said the firearms industry “does not want to see its products misused in any way and has developed programs that provide real solutions for keeping guns out of the wrong hands.”

Bexar County launched its own county-funded gun safety initiative Monday that includes distributing 17,000 free gun locks over the next year.

The Jasper Police Department in East Texas has received 200 to 300 of the Project-Childsafe kits and has distributed about 50 so far, said Detective Joshua Hadnot.

amorris@express-news.net