State police, health officials to issue free gun locks to promote gun safety

Michigan State Police and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services have teamed up to issue free cable-style gun locks to quell the leading cause of death among children, officials announced Friday.

The partnership utilized $500,000 in state funding to purchase 75,000 cable-style gun locks from Project ChildSafe, a national firearm safety education program. The collaboration is the latest effort to "protect children from unsecured firearms," which seeks to intercept the leading cause of death among children, officials said.

"We are partnering with Michigan State Police, local MDHHS offices and our local health departments, to help prevent these tragedies and keep Michigan children and families safe from firearm violence," MDHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel said in a statement. "Our department is devoted to improving the safety and well-being of Michigan children, as outlined in our Keep Kids Safe Action Agenda, and actions such as implementing gun locks are going to make a difference when it comes to prevention efforts around firearm safety."

In 2020, firearms injuries became the number one cause of death for children in the United States and Michigan, surpassing motor vehicle deaths and those caused by other injuries, state officials reported.

A state law that took effect Feb. 13 requires gun owners to keep stored or unattended firearms unloaded and locked with a locking device or stored in a locked box or container if it is known or reasonably should be known that a minor is, or is likely to be, present on the premises, according to Public Act 17 of 2023.

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"Under Michigan’s newly enacted Safe Storage (Child Access Prevention) Law, individuals can be held criminally responsible for improperly storing or leaving unattended a firearm where a minor is present or likely to be present if the minor obtains the firearm," said Col. James F. Grady II, director of the Michigan State Police, in a statement.

"Because this law seeks to prevent injuries and deaths, we want to make safe storage as easy and accessible as possible so in addition to obtaining a gun lock from many police agencies, Michiganders can now also come into a MDHHS office to pick one up, no questions asked," he said.

Supplies were available beginning Friday at MDHHS county offices and some local health departments. All MDHHS offices were projected to have gun locks available no later than June, officials said.

MDHHS staff who make home visits will also be able to access gun locks if a client has a need or wants to request one.

jaimery@detroitnews.com