Police Join Gun Safety Lock Effort

The Police Department this week joined a local group’s efforts to distribute free gun safety locks.

In August, the Faith Connection, a group that battles violence and drugs and is based at North Oxnard United Methodist Church, started the gun lock giveaway program after seeing the impact similar programs had in Glendora. Although the giveaway started slowly, it gained momentum in October with the addition of the Port Hueneme Police Department as a distribution site.

With the Oxnard Police Department now poised to distribute the gun locks, officials say the program will have a positive effect on the community.

“Obviously, it’s a win-win situation,” department spokesman Sgt. Martin Meyer said.

The Oxnard Peace Officers Assn. donated money to purchase 200 locks, which work by lacing a cable through the empty barrel of a gun.

“We initially want to see what the reaction is,” Meyer said.

The locks will arrive at the department in a couple of weeks, he said, at which time they will be available to the public at the front desk of police headquarters, 251 South C St.

Before the Faith Connection added the two police departments as distribution sites, the group had handed out only a couple of locks. But within a week of the Port Hueneme police joining the effort, all 100 cable locks assigned to the department were handed out.