The Lancaster Sheriff’s Office has received 1,500 cable-style gun locks for free distribution to the public.  The locks are provided by Project Childsafe, which has distributed more than 35 million safety kits to gun owners in all 50 states and five U.S. territories since 2003. Project ChildSafe gun locks are absolutely not for resale.

Project ChildSafe is a nationwide program whose purpose is to promote safe firearms handling and storage practices among all firearms owners through the distribution of key safety education messages and free gun locking devices (safety kits). Project ChildSafe has and continues to help its law enforcement partners promote firearms safety by providing educational materials and support services.

Project ChildSafe, a component of "Project Safe Neighborhoods" gun violence prevention initiative, is supported by the firearms industry, U.S. Dept. of Justice (DOJ) grants, and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), administrators of the program.

NSSF is the shooting sports industry's largest and most diverse trade association. Formed in 1961, NSSF manages a variety of outreach programs with a special emphasis on efforts to promote firearm safety education to all gun owners. Project ChildSafe is an expansion of NSSF's Project HomeSafe program that was created in 1999 to educate gun owners about their responsibilities to safely handle and properly store firearms in the home with the goal of preventing tragic accidents among children.

What is the goal of Project ChildSafe?

Firearms accidents in the home can result from an unauthorized individual, often a child, finding a loaded and unsecured firearm in the home. The risk of firearms-related unintentional injuries or deaths can be reduced when firearms owners are aware of and fully understand their responsibility to handle firearms safely and store them in a secure manner. The goal of Project ChildSafe is to inform and educate all firearms owners on key safety issues and to provide firearms safety kits that include a gun locking device.

The gun locking device distributed in the Project ChildSafe program is a cable-style gun lock that meets the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) current testing protocol standard (F2369-04). Cable locks require that many types of firearms be unloaded before the cable lock is installed, providing an extra level of safety.

As a firearms owner, it is your responsibility to know how to properly handle any firearm you own and also to know how to secure your firearm(s) in a safe manner in your home. Project ChildSafe has been created to help you accomplish these very important safety goals.

If for any reason you feel uncomfortable with or are unable to accept these responsibilities, we strongly urge you not to own a firearm.

The cable-style lock (patent pending) supplied in Project ChildSafe safety kits should be used in addition to, not as a substitute for, safe firearms handling and storage methods. As a firearms owner, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to know how to safely handle and securely store your firearms.

Please read the Project ChildSafe safety booklet and your firearm's Owner's Manual for safe handling and storage methods.

GENERAL FIREARM SAFETY TIPS

• Keep all firearms locked in a safe place, away from children and other unauthorized persons.
• Store ammunition under lock and key, separately from firearms.
• Read and understand the owner’s manual that came with your firearm.
• Follow safe gun handling practices: keep muzzle pointed in a safe direction; keep fingers off the trigger; and keep the firearm unloaded when not in use.