ST. LOUIS -- Gun locks will be available for free at St. Louis City Hall later this week.
The event, which takes place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on April 1, is sponsored by Women's Voices Raised for Social Justice in partnership with the City of St. Louis and Deaconess Foundation.
"Lock it for Love," a project of Women's Voices Raised for Social Justice, says approximately one in three handguns in America is kept loaded and unlocked. The organization says nearly 40 percent of homes with children in the United States have a gun.
"This country has seen far too much tragedy happen when a child gets a hold of a gun in the home," Mayor Francis Slay said. "I am happy to welcome the Lock It For Love event to City Hall to provide gun locks for anyone who wants one. They are free and easy to use and might very well save a life."
The organization says St. Louis Children's Hospital has treated 916 children injured or killed by firearms since 2002.
“If families choose to have guns in their homes they should, at least, protect children by getting gun locks and using them," said Reverend Starsky Wilson, president and CEO of the Deaconess Foundation.
