As hundreds of kids head into the school year with new backpacks and school supplies, DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston is giving away free gun safes to parents and other residents to encourage responsible practices for handling and using firearms.
Boston’s office has done this type of giveaway before, but she said this is their first time offering free gun safes and trigger locks at back-to-school events.
“Obviously, we’re living in lean times and a gun safe, a gun lock or a trigger lock may not be on the priority list of things that you have to buy when you’re putting food on the table,” Boston said. “But, also there are a lot of people that just haven’t thought about it or don’t really understand how serious this is and how easy it is and how quickly it can happen for a child to access a gun.”
Last year, a 14-year-old student was accused of fatally shooting two students and two teachers and injuring several others at Apalachee High School in Barrow County. The teen’s father was charged for giving him access to the weapon used in the shooting, making it the first time in Georgia that a parent has been held criminally liable for their child’s violent actions.
The tragedy led Georgia Republicans to support a new school law for mental health services and safety measures, but they stopped short of embracing other proposals from Democrats to encourage safe gun storage. And in Savannah, a city ordinance prohibiting storing guns in unlocked vehicles is being challenged by a gun-rights organization and Georgia’s Republican Attorney General Chris Carr.
Still, Boston said DeKalb has been prioritizing gun safety for several years. Soon after she was elected district attorney in 2016, she started the Firearm Violence Prevention Unit.
“On one hand, to make sure we hold trigger pullers accountable here in DeKalb County,” Boston said. “But… It’s not just about unlawful gun holders, it’s about making sure that our lawful gun owners are doing everything in their power to make sure that those guns aren’t used in situations that cause harm.”
Christopher Usiak, an investigator with DeKalb County’s Firearm Violence Prevention Unit, said the portable gun safes they’re giving away are especially helpful for securing firearms in homes, vehicles and even luggage, as they are TSA-approved.
“It’s pretty self-explanatory,” Usiak said. “There are easy directions to set up your three-digit code as well. You can change it anytime you want, so if your kid does get the code, you can just change it.”
Usiak said that, similar to other places around the country, DeKalb has continued to see an uptick in unsecured firearms being stolen and used in both criminal activity and accidental shootings.
“A lot of people do not secure their guns — they just slide them underneath their seats,” Usiak said. “So these guns are being used in shootings, armed robberies and murders throughout the state and in DeKalb County. Especially if you have small children, you want to secure them that way [so] they’re not accidentally shooting somebody or themselves.”
Gun owners interested in obtaining free safes or locks should contact the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office. According to the agency’s website, the requirements to receive a gun safe include being a DeKalb County resident, 21 years or older and a gun owner.
“We all have a responsibility as gun owners to act in a safe manner,” Boston said. “And just like we learn how to load a firearm safely, how to unload, how to clean a gun, how to take care of a gun, equally in those duties and responsibilities is learning how to secure that very same firearm. And securing that firearm can prevent the next tragedy.”
