KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security is offering free cable locks to firearm users in the state. They said the 15-inch cable can secure most shotguns, rifles, pistols and revolvers.
"To be a responsible gun owner, you need to make sure that you know how to handle your firearm," Sgt. L.B. Steele, with the Anderson County Sheriff's Office, said.
Steelne demonstrated how the gun locks work.
"Run it through the ejection port through the magazine well.. insert, turn the key," he demonstrated.
10News asked him to show just how long it would take to remove the lock and ready the weapon. He unlocks the gun lock, pulling the cable through the weapon allowing it to be loaded again. Our timers show this took approximately 13 seconds.
"With this cable lock, it can make it impossible for a round to be loaded into where if a child were able to access the gun and the magazine or a gun and ammo," Steele said. "As long as they don't have the key to the lock to defeat the lock, they won't be able to make it ready or make the gun hot."
In all of last year, Tennessee averaged two unintentional shootings involving children every month, 24 in all, according to the group Everytown for Gun Safety.
"No family wants to experience that type of devastating loss," Erin Rogus, policy director for Voices for Safer Tennessee, a nonpartisan gun safety advocacy group, said. "So this is one way that we can help make a difference there with these gun locks. It's clear that the overwhelming majority of Tennesseans support responsible firearm safety policies like secure storage, temporary transfer laws, background checks on all firearm transactions."
To learn more about where to acquire a gun lock in your area, a list of resources is available on Tennessee's Homeland Security website here.