Hennepin County Attorney announces free gun lock initiative

By KSTP

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty on Wednesday announced a free gun lock initiative in partnership with Hennepin County Libraries.

The program will allow Hennepin County residents to pick up free gun locks at 11 local libraries:

  • Brookdale Library (includes Service Center and Courts), 6125 Shingle Creek Pkwy Suite 800, Brooklyn Center
  • Brooklyn Park Library, 8500 W Broadway, Brooklyn Park
  • Hennepin County Law Library, 300 South 6th St #24, Minneapolis
  • Hosmer Library, 347 E 36th St, Minneapolis
  • North Regional Library, 1315 Lowry Ave N, Minneapolis
  • Penn Lake Library, 8800 Penn Ave S, Minneapolis
  • Ridgedale Library (includes Service Center and Courts), 12601 Ridgedale Dr, Minnetonka
  • Rockford Road Library, 6401 N 42nd Ave, Crystal
  • Rogers Library, 21300 John Milless Dr, Rogers
  • Louis Park Library, 3240 Library Ln, St Louis Park
  • Webber Park Library, 4440 N Humboldt Ave, Minneapolis

Moriarty cited firearms deaths, pointing out that though “gun violence” is typically thought of in a criminal sense. She added that six out of every 10 gun deaths in the United States are by suicide — a number that has only risen in recent years.

A “significant” number of firearm deaths are unintentional, especially among children, Moriarty added.

“There’s a simple solution that could have stopped many of these deaths — gun locks,” she said at a press conference on Wednesday. “When properly used, gun locks, including trigger and cable locks, offer an effective barrier that prevents a firearm from being discharged. A child that picks up a firearm with a gun lock will not be able to fire it.”

Moriarty added that gun locks can also prevent suicides by firearms by adding a time delay between someone’s suicidal ideations and the ability to act on them.

Authorities ask that you don’t bring your firearm into the library when picking up a gun lock.