The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) has been awarded a two-year, $2.4 million grant by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Funds will go toward providing firearm safety education messaging and free gun locks through NSSF’s Project ChildSafe program to communities throughout the country, to encourage responsible firearm storage and help reduce firearm accidents, theft and misuse.
“We thank the Department of Justice for its recognition of this important program,” said Steve Sanetti, NSSF president and CEO. “We’ll work to build on previous efforts and further raise awareness of the simple precautions gun owners can take to store firearms securely when not in use.”
The grant award is a strong endorsement of the effectiveness of programs like Project ChildSafe, which since 1999 has distributed more than 37 million free firearm safety kits across the country and in five U.S. territories. Thousands of law enforcement agencies, hunting and conservation groups, and firearms retailers already participate in Project ChildSafe and have been instrumental in expanding the reach of the program’s safety messages. The new grant from DOJ will likewise be instrumental in making even more free gun locks available to more gun owners nationwide.
“Programs like Project ChildSafe work because proper storage of firearms when not in use is the number one way to help prevent firearm accidents, misuse and theft,” Sanetti said. “We’re honored to be recognized by the DOJ in our efforts to promote that message and going the extra step to make a means of safe storage readily available to gun owners.”
