UPDATE: Anyone who would like a free gun lock is invited to pick one up at the Learning Resource Center at 1628 South Florida Ave. The center has partnered with the League of Women Voters to serve as a distribution point for the locks. The league will resupply the LRC as needed.
They may never know how many lives they saved. But by distributing more than 1,800 free gun locks over the past 10 months, members of the local League of Women Voters have almost certainly made Polk County safer.
Trudy Rankin, co-chair of the LWV’s gun safety committee, said the group is trying to prevent loaded guns from getting into the hands of children, who may harm or kill themselves accidentally. It also hopes to prevent suicides and stolen guns being used in crimes.
“We felt it was such a valuable, important effort,” Rankin said. “It’s nonpartisan. There’s not a position of being for or against having a gun. It’s being a safe gun owner. That’s been so significant for us. It’s necessary to be a safe gun owner.”
Why it Matters
- Many households with children have guns that aren’t properly secured.
- Gun locks can prevent accidental shootings, suicide and gun violence.
- Firearms stolen from cars are often used in crimes.
- The League of Women Voters provides gun locks for free.
The local chapter, which typically focuses on registering people to vote, was inspired to take on the initiative after witnessing the Broward County chapter pass out more than 20,000 gun locks.
The locks work by threading a cable through a handgun to keep ammunition out. This prevents a magazine from being inserted and keeps the gun’s slide mechanism from loading a bullet. The locks — which cost $5 to $10 on Amazon — also work on revolvers, sporting rifles, bolt-action rifles, semi-automatic and pump-action firearms.
For the first few months of the effort, LWV members were driving to Fort Lauderdale to pick up the gun locks from the Broward County chapter, but now they source them from a local Department of Veterans Affairs office.
Keeping children safe
“The leading cause of death of children and teens is guns — not pandemics or accidents. It’s preventable,” said Andy Crossfield, the other co-chair of the committee, citing information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A 2021 National Firearm Survey found that approximately one-third of American households with children contain firearms — and 21% of those households had at least one firearm that was both loaded and unlocked.
4.6 million children in the U.S. live in a home with a loaded gun that isn’t properly secured.
2021 National Firearm survey
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that guns and ammunition be stored separately, as well as out of the reach and sight of children. Firearms should be unloaded and in locked storage — not under a mattress, on top of the refrigerator or inside a bedside table.
As part of its campaign, the league gave away free bumper stickers that say, “It’s easier to child-proof your gun than bullet-proof your child.”
LWV member Melinda Mailly said it’s important for all parents to teach their kids what to do if they see an unattended gun: “Stop, don’t touch, run away and tell a grown-up.” It’s a simple message, but one the group says all parents should relay even if they don’t own guns, because their children may visit a friend or relative who does.
Guns stolen from vehicles
To reduce the number of stolen guns in the community, the League of Women Voters is urging people to lock their cars at night.
“We’re trying to get at those small groups of people who aren’t locking their cars. Who aren’t treating their guns responsibly,” Crossfield said during a recent committee meeting. “If we can just curtail the weapons that are stolen, we’ll be well on our way to save some lives.”
The group has partnered with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office to spread that message. While Sheriff Grady Judd is a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment, which guarantees the “right to bear arms,” he also wants to see people handle their weapons responsibly.
“Gun thefts from cars and trucks represent the largest single source of stolen guns in the United States. And where do those guns end up? That’s right, in the hands of criminals,“ Judd said in a video he recorded with LWV members that was shared on social media.
The Sheriff’s Office believes that keeping vehicles locked at all times, and not leaving firearms inside overnight, would “prevent virtually all gun thefts.” Of the 219 firearms that were reported stolen in 2023, more than half — 113 guns — were stolen from vehicles, according to its records.
Distributing gun locks to the community
The league has been creative in getting the locks out to the community. It has participated in dozens of events including Pride in the Park, Juneteenth, the sheriff’s back-to-school bashes, weekend farmers’ markets, LkldNow’s municipal candidate forum and Lakeland’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. parade.
“We just walked the sidewalks. We had people coming up to us and saying, ‘Are you the people with gun locks?’” Rankin recalled.
She said the group partnered with “Moms Demand Action,” an advocacy group formed after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut in 2012, to work with the Early Learning Coalition and give locks to parents at daycare centers.
Lakeland Regional Health is also participating in the initiative. Crossfield said the hospital’s security personnel were finding that people were coming to the hospital to visit loved ones and they were armed.
Hospital security policies require people to leave their firearms in their vehicles. Crossfield said the LWV gave 100 gun locks to Lakeland Regional Health so when visitors return their firearms to their vehicles, they can lock them.
The League of Women Voters said it’s not having difficulty accessing the locks to give out. It just needs more volunteers to help get them into the hands of those who need them.
‘All we’re asking is to be responsible’
“We’re trying to change public opinion. We’re not trying to take your guns. The vast majority of gun owners are responsible people. All we’re asking is to be responsible,” Crossfield said.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, there are quite a few Florida laws related to negligent handling of firearms. One law states it’s a third-degree felony to store or leave a loaded firearm “within the reach or easy access of a minor,” if they use the firearm to injure or kill themselves or someone else. There are exceptions to the law — including if the gun was stored in a locked box or container, had a trigger lock, if the minor obtained the gun through burglary, or sport shooting or hunting accidents.
To increase awareness, the Sheriff’s Office has created brochures in English and Spanish for the league members to pass out during events. The Sheriff’s Office and the LWV also made decals for businesses to post in their windows. They say, “Lock it or lose it. Be responsible. Secure your guns,” with an image of a handgun.
Deputies plan to speak to children about gun safety during Lakeland Regional Health’s upcoming “Safe Kids Day,” being held Apr. 6 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Hollis Cancer Center, 3525 Lakeland Hills Blvd.
Some kids face greater risk
A recent analysis by the Pew Research Center revealed that gun-related deaths among American children rose 50% between 2019 and 2021. There were 2,590 gun-related deaths among U.S. children under 18 in 2021, according to the research. The leading cause of those was homicide at 60%, followed by suicide at 32% and accidental shootings at 5%.
However, the analysis also showed that some groups of children and teens are far more likely than others to die by gunfire. For example, boys accounted for 83% of the kids who died in gun-related incidents in 2021, while girls accounted for 17%. Older children and teens were at greater risk, with those aged 12 to 17 accounting for 86% of the deaths.
And there were stark racial and ethnic disparities. Black children accounted for 46% of all gun deaths in 2021, even though only 14% of the U.S. population under 18 identified as Black that same year.
“Looked at another way, Black children and teens were roughly five times as likely as their White counterparts to die from gunfire in 2021… In 2021, a large majority of gun deaths involving Black children and teens (84%) were homicides, while 9% were suicides. Among White children and teens, by contrast, the majority of gun deaths (66%) were suicides, while a much smaller share (24%) were homicides,” the research stated.
Despite the statistics, a fall 2022 Pew Research survey suggested that more than half of the parents surveyed were not worried about their children getting shot. It also found that Hispanic and Black parents were often more concerned than Asian and White parents.
“Never have I had the feeling that something I did could save a life until now. You can’t get a better feeling that you may be saving a child’s life,” Crossfield said.
Preventing suicides
Suicide prevention is also something that propels Dr. Rankin to push forward with the effort.
“You never know if you’ve saved anybody’s life. Of all those gun locks, there’s a possibility we’ve saved at least one,” Rankin said.
A psychotherapist whose had a private practice for 45 years, Rankin explained the thought of committing suicide often passes within a five-minute period. The cable gun locks the group is handing out look similar to bike locks and fit through the gun’s chamber to prevent the trigger from being pulled. They are unlocked using a key.
“If you can just give them the time to unlock that lock, sometimes the thought goes away. Anyone who has a person with mental illness in their house and has a gun needs to be reminded about safe storage,” Rankin said.
Rankin said the reason the Department of Veterans Affairs is supplying free gun locks is because it’s working to reduce the number of suicides committed by veterans.
In 2020, the U.S. had its lowest number of veteran suicides since 2006. But even so, 6,146 veterans took their own lives, which equated to an average of 16.8 per day, according to the 2022 Veteran Affairs National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report.
“Among U.S. adults who died from suicide in 2020, firearms were more commonly involved among veterans (71.0%) than non-veterans (50.3%),” the report stated.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org/. 988 is confidential, free crisis service that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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