And speaking of guns, this from today's NYT:
January 7, 2001 Single-Page Format
In Maine, Free Gun Locks Are Popular,
Politics Aside
By CAREY GOLDBERG
ENNEBUNK, Me., Jan. 4
— In remote Aroostook
County, demand was so hot the
supply ran out in a few hours. The
same happened in Bangor. Here in
Kennebunk, word has barely
gotten out, but already this
morning, Michael Pardue came in
to the local police station and left a
happy customer, one more
beneficiary of the great Maine
trigger-lock giveaway now under
way.
Matthew B. Baker, the town's
police chief, sounded happy too.
"It's a no-brainer, as far as I'm
concerned," he said of the
program, begun in the last few
days to give a gun lock free to any
Maine resident who wants one.
Others around the country have
concluded the same thing. Last
May, George W. Bush, then governor of Texas, announced that he
would devote $5 million over five years to a gun-lock giveaway, and
seek a $65-million-a-year nationwide program if elected president.
Scattered police departments and hospitals operate similar programs on
their own, from Palm Beach County, Fla., to Somerset County, N.J.
And the National Shooting Sports Foundation, an industry trade group,
plans to give away one million locks this year as part of a program called
Project HomeSafe. Begun in 2000, the program has distributed 400,000
locks.
It was suspended this fall because of design flaws found in the cable
locks it distributed, said Bob Delfay, the foundation's president, and
started up again today after the manufacturer fixed the trouble.
Gun-lock giveaways have appeared to be a growing trend in the last two
years, said Mr. Delfay, even though "firearms accidents in the home are
at historically low levels." It could be, he said, that as gun accidents
become fewer, each one gets more publicity, fueling the push for further
safety measures.
It could also be, he and others said, that gun locks — and safety
measures in general — are one of the few issues on which gun
proponents and gun opponents can heartily agree.
Here in Maine, the group that is sponsoring the giveaway, the Maine
Citizens Against Handgun Violence Foundation, says it has had not a
glimmer of disapproval about it, despite the powerful pro-gun sentiments
of many Mainers whose parents and grandparents took them moose
hunting and target shooting.
They include people like Theodore St. Pierre, the sheriff of Aroostook
County: "I'm not a believer in gun control, because I believe the crook is
going to be able to get a gun every time and you're restricting the
law-abiding citizens from getting guns."
But, he added, "What we need to do is say, `If you're going to be a gun
owner, you must be a responsible gun owner.' "
At about $10 each, the gun locks are cheap enough for many people to
afford, he said — "If they can buy three packs of cigarettes they can buy
a gun lock"— but a giveaway offers special incentive. "Anything for free,
they'll line up for."
The 60 gun locks Sheriff St. Pierre received were gone in a couple of
hours, he said. In Bangor, 75 locks were given away in the course of last
weekend, said Don Winslow, the police chief there. In all, more than
2,500 locks have been given out in Maine, and a shipment of 3,000 more
is expected soon.
The idea for the giveaway came to leaders of Maine Citizens Against
Handgun Violence, a new state group, after they performed a survey last
year to analyze gun ownership and use in the state, said the group's
secretary, Maryellen Sullivan. They found there were 1.4 million guns in
the state, just over one for each of the nearly 1.3 million residents. Nearly
400,000 of the guns were handguns, she said, and about 110 people die
each year from gun injuries of all sorts — homicides, suicides and
accidents.
What all this tells us is we have a lot of guns,
and if you look at who's being hurt and injured by guns, it's the people in
the household where the guns are," Ms. Sullivan said.
Though the locks are seen mainly as child-proofing, some see hope that
they may protect adults as well.
"How many thousands of people die of some type of emotionalism?"
asked Michael J. Chitwood, chief of police in Portland. "We see
thousands and thousands of people commit suicide; maybe if they didn't
have access to that particular firearm in their home they wouldn't be able
to do that final thing."
Domestic violence, too, he said, might be reduced if it were harder to get
to guns during an argument.
Supporters of the giveaway say that some skeptics may question how
necessary it is, given that most handguns are sold with locks these days
and that gun accidents involving children are relatively rare. Gun experts
also emphasize that locks are not enough to ensure safety, and that it is
especially important that locks not be put on loaded guns, which might
still discharge.
Chief Chitwood has heard a few naysayers wonder what the point of the
giveaway is, he said. But, he added, "How can you argue with it? It's all
voluntary."
Certainly, there were no complaints today from Michael Pardue, a
44-year-old communications consultant with three children, as he picked
up his lock in the icicle-frosted Kennebunk police station. Mr. Pardue,
who was a police chief in Connecticut, said he had seen the results of
unsafe gun practices, including burglaries that suddenly became vastly
more dangerous because a loaded gun was in the house.
"One of those incidents prevented," he said, "is worth any investments we
as citizens can make." |
