Philadelphia Police Captain Demonstrates How To Use Gun Lock As Preventable Firearm Deaths Rise
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Eyewitness News has covered a number of stories about children accidentally getting access to guns and putting their lives and others in danger. On Wednesday, Philadelphia police are encouraging people to put a lock on their weapons.
The captain of the 19th police district demonstrated how to properly use a gun lock. Cables go through the barrel of the gun or the chamber to prevent it from firing. It only takes a few seconds to lock and unlock the device.
Officer Ian Nance says gun safety should be the highest priority for any family.
"If you're not the gun owner, if you have kids roaming around, if you have family members over, they don't have a live dangerous weapon, and they can't harm anybody but themselves or anybody else," Nance said. "It comes down to taking some of the mystery out of it. If you have a firearm in your home, having a conversation with your kids, taking just some of the mystery out of it, so that way when they find it, they know what to do. And that would be don't touch it, go get an adult, let an adult know that it's right there."
According to data from the National Safety Council, at least 535 people were killed in preventable or accidental shootings in 2020.