The Alexandria Circuit Court Clerk’s office is distributing gun locks featuring suicide prevention information through a new partnership with Brady, officials announced Friday evening.
Circuit Court Clerk Greg Parks said his office gives out about 60 gun locks monthly to concealed carry permit applicants and walk-ins. The locks now include stickers with QR codes linking to Brady’s End Family Fire program, which provides resources on safe firearm storage and suicide prevention.
“Everybody loves free stuff, so they very rarely turn down taking a cable lock or a trigger lock,” Parks said.
The initiative targets the approximately 700 people who apply for concealed carry permits annually in Alexandria, though Parks said distribution exceeds permit applications.
“We give out more locks than we do permits,” Parks said. “So there are definitely people taking locks that are not applying for a concealed carry permit.”
Kris Brown, president of Brady, said firearms are involved in about two-thirds of gun deaths nationwide that are suicides.
“Eight kids a day are killed or injured with guns in the home,” Brown said.
The End Family Fire campaign addresses what the organization calls “family fire” — shootings involving unsecured firearms from homes, including unintentional shootings, firearm suicide and intentional shootings.
The partnership began when Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley approached Parks about distributing city-owned gun locks that weren’t being widely distributed.
“A couple of years ago, Vice Mayor Bagley had come to me, and the city of Alexandria had trigger locks and cable locks available, and they were basically not being distributed widely enough,” Parks said.
The locks include instructions in English, Spanish, and Arabic to serve Alexandria’s diverse community.
Beyond the clerk’s office, locks are available at the Del Pepper Center, Alexandria Police Department and Sheriff’s Department. The Sheriff’s Office also provides resources on securing firearms to keep kids safe.
Brown emphasized that firearm access restrictions help prevent suicides, noting that firearms result in death 90% of the time they’re used in suicide attempts, compared with 3% for other methods.
“There is a common misconception that you can’t prevent suicide,” Brown said. “And the reality is, what something like a gun and a trigger lock does is it pauses somebody.”
The announcement coincides with National Suicide Prevention Month. Brady was founded by Alexandria residents Jim and Sarah Brady after Jim Brady was wounded in the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.
Gun locks are available year-round at participating locations with no appointment necessary. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provides 24/7 support by calling or texting 988.
