Gun sellers say fraction of buyers purchase lock boxes

Jason Ingrem, a gun safety instructor at 42 North Gun Range, said firearm owners have a responsibility to prevent unauthorized people, particularly children, from accessing their weapons.

“Keep your gun locked up unless you’re ready to use it,” Ingrem said.

Channel 2 investigative reporter Ashli Lincoln met with Ingrem at the Stockbridge gun range to discuss firearm safety and the options available to gun owners who want to secure their weapons.

“We as gun owners have to make sure that we’re being responsible,” Ingrem said.

Ingrem said the range sells more than 5,000 firearms in an average year. But he estimated customers purchase only about 50 lock boxes annually.

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“We sell over 5,000 guns a year,” Ingrem said. “Only about maybe 50 lock boxes get sold per year.”

Federal law requires licensed dealers to provide a secure gun storage or safety device with the transfer of a handgun.

Ingrem said some gun owners may be reluctant to use traditional lock boxes because they want to quickly access a firearm in an emergency. One alternative he recommends is a biometric safe that opens using the owner’s fingerprint.

“It takes your fingerprint, pops open, now you have access to defend your home,” Ingrem said.

The issue has taken on increased importance amid concerns about children gaining access to unsecured firearms.

Georgia does not have a statewide law generally requiring gun owners to keep firearms locked when they are not in use. Other states, including California, Massachusetts and Oregon, have enacted firearm-storage requirements that apply under certain circumstances.

DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston said her office approaches accidental shootings involving children through both prosecution and prevention.

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“We’re taking it very seriously here in DeKalb, both on a prosecution standpoint, on an intervention standpoint,” Boston said.

Boston said her office also conducts outreach throughout the year aimed at educating gun owners about safe firearm storage.

“I would like to think that our campaign to get people to talk about how to keep their firearms safe and secure is having the intended effects, meaning the more guns we lock up, the more guns we keep out of the hands of kids,” Boston said.

Gun-rights organizations, including the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America, have opposed government-mandated safe-storage requirements while promoting voluntary practices designed to prevent unauthorized access to firearms.

Ingrem said regardless of what the law requires, responsibility ultimately rests with gun owners.

“Part of that responsibility is making sure that no one else can access the firearms that we don’t want to,” he said.

42 North Gun Range offers gun safety classes for firearm owners, to sing up contact the store.

For information on Dekalb County DA’s free lock boxes, click here.

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