May be there is some hope

An $80 million federal grant program to distribute gun locks free for the protection of children appears to have pivoted off course since they're being used by farmers to keep their gates locked.

"If you look from the road at farmers' gates, you can see them," Bedford County Sheriff's Detective Sgt. Chris Brown said today when asked about comments from Wartrace Town Hall Wednesday.

Wartrace Town Clerk Kim Curbow said Project ChildSafe's cable-style gun locks "look like a lock you would use on a bicycle." She and Wartrace Police Chief Ben Burris agreed the locks would also work as a farm gate lock.

"That's true," Brown said when asked about the observation in Wartrace. "They do use them for that."

Lawmen in Bedford County endorsed Project ChildSafe's goal -- protecting curious children from injury and/or death if they mishandle their parents' guns. However, two of the three law enforcement offices said they had locks left over from last year's distribution. Meanwhile, Wartrace has no trouble distributing the locks in its more rural area.

My research on how gun locks increase the total number of deaths is available here. My book, The Bias Against Guns, has a greatly expanded and updated discussion.