MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Police began handing out free gun locks after a 4-year-old girl accidentally shot herself and her father over the weekend.
Police urged these types of shootings are preventable if gun owners properly store and lock up their firearms. There are 700 locks to give away thanks to a donation from the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
For Keith Henderson, his grandchildren are the reason why he did not hesitate to pick up one of the free locks.
"They'll be at my house and I'll be at work. I don't want anything to happen," said Henderson.
"If you do own a gun and have children in your home accidental shootings are one hundred percent preventable," said Captain Willie Murphy at MPD's District 7.
Murphy said they will give the locks away until supplies run out. All you have to do is show up to a Milwaukee Police Station and ask for it.
"The devastation and trauma that's left behind when you've got situations like that that happen in a house, the guilt and remorse that comes as a result of realizing that, if I just would've had the gun locked up or had a gun lock on it then this wouldn't have happened, that lingers," said Murphy.
You can pick up a free gun lock at any of the following Milwaukee Police stations:
District 1: 749 W. State St
District 2: 245 W. Lincoln Ave
District 3: 2333 N. 49th St
District 4: 6929 W. Silver Spring Dr
District 5: 2920 N. Vel R. Phillips Ave
District 6: 3006 S. 27th St
District 7: 3626 W. Fond Du Lac Ave
