BLAZE Magazine Spring/Summer 2014 | Page 45

Project ChildSafe Gains 500 Supporter Organizations Firearm industry program distributes free safety kits in 47 states since January By mike Bazinet porting organizations are reaching out to the firearm-owning community to stress the importance of proper and responsible firearm storage. Central to that program are the project ChildSafe Firearm Safety Kits, which include a free cablestyle gun lock. nSSF, which launched project ChildSafe in 1999, provides the safety kits and locks to more than 15,000 The program began recruiting supporter law enforcement partner agencies across organizations last summer to expand the the country at no charge. reach of its safety message nationwide. The Wild Sheep Foundation, a national Thanks in part to the work of project organization dedicated to enhancing ChildSafe supporters to promote the wild sheep populations, promoting pro- “Own it? respect it. Secure it.” message fessional wildlife management and pro- on their websites, advertising, storefronts viding public education on hunting’s role and in social media, demand for the in conservation, became the program’s safety kits has surged. more than 53,000 500th supporter this week. it joined a safety kits have been shipped to local host of local and national organizations law enforcement agencies in 47 states including uSA Shooting, the mule Deer nationwide since January, adding to the Foundation, Law enforcement united, more than 36 million safety kits donated national Association of Sporting good throughout the u.S. and in five territories Wholesalers, uS First responders and since project ChildSafe began. uSA YeSS, among others. “We’ve partnered with project ChildSafe “As an orga- and nSSF to distribute locks and edun i z a t i o n cational materials at several events dedicated to in the past year. At each event, the ethical hunt- response from the community has been ing and safe tremendous, demonstrating that project shooting, we ChildSafe is the right approach to firebelieve any arm safety,” said Joe Huggins, Hunter d i s c u s - education Coordinator with the Arkansas sion on game and Fish Commission. “reaching the impor- this milestone shows that the vast majortance of ity of gun owners are committed to being gun safety safe and responsible. We look forward and responsi- to continuing our work with project bility must include ChildSafe to provide resources and tools storing guns respon- to help them do that.” sibly when they are not in use,” said ryan Brock, ph.D. and youth education coordinator for the Wild Sheep Foundation. “project ChildSafe is the nation’s leading program in getting that message out, and providing the means firearm owners can use to help prevent accidents. We’re glad to be partnering with them.” the importance of safe firearm storage,” said Steve Sanetti, nSSF president and CeO. “This broad spectrum of support amplifies our industry’s safety message and lets people know there are resources available to help firearm owners take action - right now - to help prevent firearm accidents.” T he national Shooting Sports Foundation (nSSF) announced today that more than 500 retailers, sporting clubs and conservation organizations have signed on to support its project ChildSafe program and promote the message of “Own it? respect it. Secure it.” to help prevent firearm accidents. “reaching 500 supporter organizations for project ChildSafe speaks to how the shooting sports community understands Accept No Limits | outdoorwomenunlimited.org Together, project ChildSafe and its supSpring/Summer 2014 | BLAZE | 45