POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — “Gun locks can save lives,” said Andy Crossfield, co-chair of the League of Women Voters of Polk County’s gun violence prevention committee.
To Crossfield, it is a rare moment of consensus in a politically-fraught time.
“There’s so many times in politics where you just can’t make a difference but this was an ability to actually reach people and supply a need that they didn’t even know they had,” he said.
In the past 10 months, he said, the League of Women Voters of Polk County has distributed more than 1,800 gun locks in the county.
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The organization connects with families at community events and parades and is in the process of reaching out to daycare centers.
“My pitch is basically come up to a stranger and go ‘hey, we’re just trying to keep kids safe. Do you have any unsecured guns in the home?’” said Crossfield.
The locks make a gun unable to fire and require a key to unlock.
The goal is to prevent accidental deaths and suicides.