LOK-IT-UP campaign<\/a> is a partnership with Harborview Medical Center, Seattle Children\u2019s, the state Department of Health, and multiple law enforcement agencies and gun retailers working together to promote safe firearm storage.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\u201cA public-health approach to reducing gun violence relies heavily on awareness and education,\u201d said King County Executive Dow Constantine. \u201cThanks to this investment by the Justice Department, more people in our region are aware of our effective violence-reduction program.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Justice Department is helping promote the county\u2019s program as part of a strategy to prevent guns being stolen and used by criminals.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need the public\u2019s help to keep their firearms from becoming crime guns,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes. \u201cToo often we see criminals using stolen firearms to commit drive-by shootings, domestic assaults, and even murders. Through the Project Safe Neighborhoods program, the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office is pleased to partner with King County in this media campaign to urge gun owners to practice safe, locked storage of their guns. A locked gun safe can create one more hurdle for those who want to steal, sell and use stolen guns for criminal purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Just more than half of the adults in Washington state who own firearms \u2014 nearly 1 million residents \u2014 store their guns unlocked. About 200,000 children in the state live in homes with unrestricted access to guns.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The safe storage campaign is part of Constantine’s broader public-health approach to preventing gun violence, which kills more people in King County than car crashes. The strategy includes helping local hospitals, law enforcement, medical examiners and researchers share data on gun-related injuries and fatalities to better identify the specific risks and needs in the community.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI encourage all gun owners to take an extra moment to practice safe gun storage,\u201d said Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O\u2019Toole. \u201cA little time can go a long way to prevent gun theft or other potentially tragic misuse.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cMany guns used by criminals were stolen from law-abiding folks who didn\u2019t lock up their firearms,\u201d said King County Sheriff John Urquhart. \u201cDon\u2019t let that happen to you! Secure your guns, so they don\u2019t get stolen.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
About 70 percent of gun-related deaths in King County are suicides.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a community, we can make a difference in eliminating tragedies caused by gun violence,\u201d said Tony Gomez, Public Health \u2013 Seattle & King County\u2019s Violence and Injury Prevention Program Manager. \u201cResponsible, safe storage prevents gun access by kids and teens, including those at risk of suicide.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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King County\u2019s gun-violence prevention program got a boost this month from billboards and Sound Transit bus ads paid for by the U.S. Department of Justice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":23626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-23625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23625"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23625"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=23625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}