Louisville leaders joined with the Firearm Trade Association to launch Childsafe Louisville Wednesday morning, a new program designed to decrease the amount of deaths caused by firearms.The program plans to provide free gun locks to any gunowner who wants them to help them secure their firearms from anyone who should not have access.Joe Bartozzi, President and CEO of the National Shooting Sports Foundation and chairman of the Project Childsafe Foundation, was on hand to explain the partnership with Louisville.You can watch the entire presentation in the player above.The foundation is a national program founded in 1999 to promote safe firearm ownership and handling. It provides free cable-style gunlocks to be distributed via the city they’re partnering with to anyone who wants them.It will start by providing 6,000 free gun locks to Louisville but is ready to provide more. Bartozzi said the group of people they have in Louisville is the biggest they’ve ever had for a launch in a city. Bartozzi said secure storage in the home and vehicles prevents the theft of guns and the misuse of guns, including suicide and accidents.“A hidden gun is not a safe gun,” said Bartozzi. You can watch an LMPD officer demonstrate the use of the safety lock on a variety of weapons in the player below.All gunowners are encouraged to get a free gun lock with no questions asked. Below is a list of locations people can get the locks Wednesday from noon to 1 p.m. LMPD – 3rd Division HQ: 7219 Dixie Highway, Louisville, KY 42058 Goodwill Opportunity Center: 2820 W Broadway, Louisville, KY 40211 Christ Temple Apostolic Church: 723 S 45th St, Louisville, KY 40211 Canaan Christian Church: 2840 Hikes Ln, Louisville, KY 40218 Fleur de Tea-Norton Commons: 10704 Meeting St., #101, Prospect, KY 40059People can also get the gun locks anytime at any LMPD division headquarters or at Bud’s Gun Shop and Range located at 1105 Industry Road in Lexington while supplies last.Mayor Craig Greenberg was also on hand to express the hope that the initiative will make gun safety better in Louisville.Greenberg referenced the death of Aubree Goss, a 3-year-old girl who found a gun under a couch in her home and died of accidental gunshot wound last month. “Her death was easily preventable,” said Greenberg. “Lives have been lost or altered because someone failed to follow a simple guideline regarding firearm safety,” he added. “Firearm safety is a critically important part of public safety.”Greenberg called upon citizens to take advantage of free gun locks and to secure their guns. He said people need to take responsibility and do simple things to prevent tragedies.”Let’s honor her (Aubree) by making sure that something like this never happens again in our city,” said Greenberg.You can learn more about Project Childsafe here. Whitney Austin was also at the press conference. The founder of Whitney Strong, Austin shared her story of surviving being struck by 12 bullets in a 2018 mass shooting in Cincinnati. She said she and her husband sought to build a program that is committed to working with everyone on preventing gun violence. She said her organization was proud to partner with the National Shooting Sports Foundation and Project Childsafe.Austin shared that, over the past decade, the firearm death and suicide rate among children has increased by 57% and that 82% of the time they use a family member’s gun.She said 112,000 guns were reported stolen nationwide in 2022 and that the ones stolen from cars were most often when they were parked outside homes.She emphasized secure storage of firearms both in the home and in vehicles.Emily McKinley with the Louisville Metro Police Department encouraged everyone who owns a firearm to store their firearm secured with a lock and apart from their ammunition.The presentation ended with a LMPD officer demonstrating the use of the cable-style firearm safety lock on a revolver, semi-automatic handgun, shotgun, and AR-15-style rifle.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. —…