The city of Denver gave out 1,200 free gun locks at various churches throughout the state as part of an effort to curb gun violence.
Safe Haven, a faith-led initiative that aims to help people recovering from traumatic incidents, partnered with the Colorado city to distribute more than 1,000 gun locks in order to prevent young people from accessing unsecured weapons. The organization and city officials distributed the locks at more than 20 churches throughout Denver on Saturday evening and Sunday morning.
The gun locks were supplied by the Denver Police Department and Project ChildSafe, an organization that works to mitigate gun violence by distributing over 37 million firearm safety kits since its founding in 1999.
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, a Democrat, lauded the city’s effort to distribute the gunlocks, stating, “Youth are getting access to unsecured guns, and incidents are escalating with tragic results. In one of the safest big cities in the country, that is unacceptable and we know it’s preventable. We want to empower every resident to make a difference. Grabbing a free gun lock and securing a weapon is one action we can all take right now to keep young people safe.”
A 2019 report from Denver Public Health found that nearly 700 young people are killed in the city each year in connection to gun violence. In response to the report, Hancock said, “Gun violence is plaguing our cities, our nation and the very soul of our society, and it’s even more devastating to our communities and families when it impacts our children and youth. The city is committed to promoting the policies and deploying the resources necessary to keep our young people safe.”
In 2019, the Secret Service also issued a nationwide report on gun violence in schools. The report revealed that three-quarters of school shooters used unsecured weapons from their own homes.
