Gun Lock Program Suspended After Problems Found
By Denise Lavoie
Associated Press Writer

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) – A nationwide program to distribute free
gun locks to protect children has been suspended after police
discovered the devices can spring open.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade group based in
Newtown, distributed 400,000 cable locks through more than 600
law enforcement agencies before police in Knoxville and
Chattanooga, Tenn., reported the problems last week.

The foundation said Tuesday that no more locks will be given out
until extensive testing is done.

“We’ve informed all of the municipalities that have already
distributed locks of the potential problem and have asked them to
send in a sampling of locks they may still have so that we can do
a test,” said Robert Delfay, the group’s president and chief
executive.

Delfay said a decision on whether any of the locks will be recalled
will be made after the tests.

Project HomeSafe began about a year ago, with the foundation
promoting it as a way for gun owners to feel more sure that their
weapons are safe from children.

The cable locks, which differ from trigger locks, are pulled through
gun handles or barrels to prevent the weapon from being fired or
loaded. Some of the nation’s largest and most violent cities -
Houston, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia among them -
participated in the project.

But a Knoxville officer discovered one of the locks would spring
open when bounced in his hand. Police found the trait was
common after testing the 3,000 locks they had planned to
distribute.

Bill Brassard, the project’s coordinator, said the locks are made
overseas but he didn’t know by whom. Officials are checking to
see whether the flaw is common to all of the locks, or whether the
ones in Tennessee were just a bad batch.

Foundation officials said the failures reported by Tennessee police
are the first they have received.

Police in the Tennessee cities said they are concerned gun
owners might have a false sense of security about the locks.
Delfay said the foundation shares the worry and recommends that
all weapons be stored in safety boxes. He said the locks were
never meant to be foolproof.

“These locks are not intended to defeat all attempts to open them
or destroy them by force,” Delfay said. “They’re supposed to
discourage unauthorized use.”

But he added: “Even if it opens easier than someone might hope,
it is still more effective than no lock at all.”

The foundation represents about 1,800 gun and accessory
manufacturers. When the program began, some gun control
proponents called it a public relations ploy to defuse criticism and
lawsuits filed against the gun industry over the rash of gun violence
across the country.