Safety campaign to give out 1,000 gun safes

Harris County recorded 63 suspected homicides in the first 45 days of 2023, and with many being the result of gunfire, Houston community organizations and agencies will be making 1,000 gun safes available as a part of their recently announced safety campaign.

The Houston Police Department, Harris County Sheriff’s Department and Harris County District Attorney’s Office launched the campaign last week, citing a rise in stolen guns from vehicles and adults’ negligence with firearms.

“We try and lead the horse to water but you can’t make them drink,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said during the news conference. “When people take the affirmative action to go get a box, I think they will use it.”

Here’s what you need to know about the safe giveaway.

Campaign location

The gun safes are being given away on “a firstcome, first-served basis” at HPD community meetings by the DA’s Office Community Engagement team, DA’s Office spokeswoman Suzanne Garofalo said. Gun locks and safety information will also be provided at the meetings, she said.

The first distribution of gun safes will be at 10 a.m. March 3 at the Midwest HPD station, 7277 Regency Square, said Anna Carpenter with the DA’s Office.

The full schedule for the HPD meetings will be posted on the Houston Gun Safety website.

One safe will be given out per household, according to Carpenter.

“Please remember that the purpose of these safes is to safely store your firearm away from children or those who would steal them,” she said.

Edward Pollard, the Democratic city councilman representing District J, paid for the first 1,000 safes, according to Garofalo. The city and participating agencies are also working on securing funding for another 5,000 safes, she said.

“Our hope is that this will be an ongoing project,” Garofalo said. “The DA’s Office is joined by HPD and the city of Houston in donating the safes.”

Kids and violence

Pollard used Council District Service funds to pay for the safes, said Misty Starks with his office.

According to prices listed on multiple hardware store websites, safes can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars.

The announcement of the campaign comes after a year that saw more than 4,400 firearms being reported stolen out of vehicles and 60 children die from gunshot wounds in Harris County.

“Something has got to change,” Abbie Kamin, Houston City Council member and public safety chair, said at the news conference Thursday. “Each one of us must do our part and do everything we can to prevent firearms from falling into the wrong hands and keeping our children safe.”

Houston Gun Safety reports 350 children get access to a gun and unintentionally shoot themselves or others every year. Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun violence prevention organization, shows there have been 20 unintentional shootings by children so far in 2023, nine of which were fatal.

One was a 3-year-old boy in Wharton who died after accidentally shooting himself with a gun he found in his mother’s nightstand.

In 2022, the organization reported 324 unintentional shootings, 145 of which were fatal. Two of the fatal incidents were in Houston and another was in Katy.