MILWAUKEE COUNTY

Hundreds in Milwaukee get free gun locks at 'Heal The Hood'

Jacob Carpenter
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

When Michael Boyd heard news stories this week about a Milwaukee toddler who accidentally shot himself, he thought of his own grandchildren and the gun he keeps in his home.

Dee Hervey (right) prays with her son, Majada Hervey (center), and her grandson, Jayden Hervey, Saturday during the 6th annual Heal the Hood block party at N. 10th St. and W. Atkinson Ave. in Milwaukee. It featured performances, free food, local vendors and social service agencies.

With his 6- and 8-year-old kin in mind, Boyd stopped Saturday at the 6th annual "Heal The Hood" event on Milwaukee's north side and snagged a free gun lock.

"I'm pretty safe, but you can never be too careful," said Boyd, 58, of Milwaukee. "I've been hearing about fatalities and kids shooting themselves all the time."

Following two recent accidental shootings involving children, members of WestCare Wisconsin and its Youth Action Council spent Saturday afternoon passing out hundreds of free gun locks to residents. The safety devices came courtesy of Master Lock, which donated 1,000 of them to WestCare Wisconsin.

Devin Davis, the youth council's president, said most members of their group have been surrounded by guns and violence, which led them to seek options for combating accidental shootings.

“We grew up in a city where there’s an epidemic of gun violence going on, so we’re looking forward to making that change and doing what we can do,” said Davis, 18.

The gun locks contain short cables that are threaded through ejection ports of unloaded weapons, with a key-and-lock device on the cable ends. Davis said he hopes the hundreds of people who took the locks are proactive in using them.

"We can't force them to use it. All we can do is be proactive," Davis said. "We've actually gotten a pretty good response, talking to people and really getting the word out."

The locks are largely designed to prevent children from accidentally shooting themselves. In recent years, several Milwaukee-area children have died or suffered serious injuries from accidental shootings.

Free gun locks were offered by WestCare Wisconsin's Youth Action Council booth Saturday during the 6th annual Heal the Hood block party at N. 10th St. and W. Atkinson Ave. in Milwaukee. Master Lock donated 1,000 of the devices.

Last year, a 4-year-old boy fatally shot himself after getting a hold of a firearm inside his mother's home. Last month, another 4-year-old boy shot himself in the hand after finding a gun in his mother's purse. And on Tuesday, a 2-year-old boy shot himself with a loaded weapon inside his father's home. He's expected to survive.

All three shootings happened on Milwaukee's north side, all within a 4-mile radius of the "Heal The Hood" event.

“I don't know how a 2-year-old gets a hold of a gun," said Daevion Willis, 14, a member of the Youth Action Council. "But these gun locks are important because they save a life, one life at a time."

Karen Thomas, a WestCare staffer who helped organize the gun lock distribution, said about 250 of them had been handed out within the first 90 minutes of the event. The locks will be distributed again Sunday during the second day of "Heal The Hood," from 12 to 6 p.m. at N. 10th St. and W. Atkinson Ave.