Saf T Lock Rides With the Headlines

Here is a stock whose fate seems intertwined with tragedy.

Trading in gun-lock maker Saf T Lok Inc. (ticker symbol: LOCK) surged for a second day Wednesday, driven by shootings at a school and fast-food restaurants, the company’s chairman said.

Saf T Lok, which is periodically thrust into stock market prominence by U.S. gun violence, topped 2.9 million shares in Nasdaq trading volume. More than 1.9 million shares of Saf T Lok--whose typical daily turnover is 62,800--traded Tuesday.

The shares closed Wednesday at $2, up 44 cents.

“A lot of our stock is held by individuals,” Chairman Frank Brooks said. “As soon as there is a bit of news, such as the shooting at the school yesterday or the one at a McDonald’s today, they think of Saf T Lok.”

The stock jumped in value by a third in May 1998 after a school shooting in Springfield, Ore., spurred calls for greater gun safety.

A gunman in a Pittsburgh suburb killed two people and wounded at least three in neighboring McDonald’s and Burger King restaurants Wednesday, police said, the day after a 6-year-old boy shot and killed a girl the same age at a Michigan school.

The girl’s killing prompted President Clinton to appeal to Americans to make tighter gun-control laws an issue in the 2000 presidential election.

Saf T Lok, which is based in West Palm Beach, Fla., and had nine-month revenue through September of $145,000, sells mechanical combination locks fitted into a gun’s grip or ammunition magazine. The devices block a gun’s operation until a four-digit code is entered.

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Saf T Lok Surges

The volatile shares of gunlock maker Saf T Lok climbed Wednesday after shootings in Pittsburgh and Michigan. Daily closes since Feb. 1 and latest on Nasdaq:

Wednesday:

$2.00, up $0.44

Source: Bloomberg News