Texas Gun Control Advocate Prevented From Getting Free Locks

[sarisataka]

Texas Gun Control Advocate Prevented From Getting Free Locks

A firearms trade association distributing taxpayer-funded gun locks to Texas residents to prevent accidental shootings advised the Austin Police Department not to give any to a woman affiliated with a gun control advocacy group, emails show.

The Police Department ultimately rejected Leesa Ross' request last year for 100 cable locks that were being given out as part of a program that followed several mass shootings, including one at a Houston-area high school that officials said was carried out by a teenager using his dad's guns. Ross, whose son died from an unintentional shooting in 2009, advocates for safe firearm storage at Austin schools and gives out gun locks.

Behind the scenes, the National Shooting Sports Foundation had expressed concerns that Ross' gun control associations could risk alienating firearm owners, the Houston Chronicle reported. The foundation was responsible for overseeing a $1 million grant announced by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to flood the state with 625,000 free cable gun locks. The cables are threaded through a gun’s chamber to prevent it from firing.

The group issued a memo to its law enforcement partners telling them not to give the gun locks to members of Everytown for Gun Safety's survivor network and Moms Demand Action, two national groups that support stricter firearm laws. Ross is affiliated with Everytown for Gun Safety’s survivor network.

https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2020-01-16/texas-gun-control-advocate-prevented-from-getting-free-locks

Everytown asking for 100 locks from another organization one they have spoken against, is a pretty cheeky move. Especially for a group that launched their Be Smart for Kids back in 2015 that promised to give away gun locks. I posted kudos when they launched it- https://www.democraticunderground.com/1172166981 however that turned out to be a false promise. Despite Bloomberg giving this "grassroots" organization $50 million, none of that money was ever devoted to giving out locks. Over the intervening years they scrubbed all references to giving away locks and generally have forgotten all about their Be Smart program...

If Ms Ross is indeed a gun owner, she should definitely be given a free lock. If she can show she owns 100 guns then by all means give her 100 locks. But she should not collect locks from another organization to have them in turn passed out by her organization. If Everytown actually cares about kids and wants to hand out locks to prevent child access, they should use some of their own funds to do so. As they once promised to do.

[dlk]

1. Petty and childish, just like Trump

Seriously, where are the grownups?