Thursday, February 04, 1999
City will hand out 5,000 free trigger locks
Provident splits cost with city
BY HOWARD WILKINSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
By April, gun owners in Cincinnati should be getting the first of 5,000 free trigger locks, courtesy of the city of Cincinnati and Provident Bank.
Councilman Charlie Winburn announced Wednesday that he had found a corporate sponsor for his plan to combat gun violence by giving away over the next two years 5,000 of the mechanisms, which ordinarily retail for $12 to $14.
Provident Bank presented the city with a check for $60,000, which the city will match. The money will go toward buying the devices, training and overtime for police officers who will teach gun owners how to use them, and advertising to get the word out about the program.
“If we save one life with this program, it will have been worth the effort,” Mr. Winburn said.
This is the second time Mr. Winburn has combined with Carl H. Lindner in a public safety effort. Mr. Lindner is the largest shareholder of Provident Financial Group Inc., parent of Provident Bank. Last year, Mr. Lindner helped fund a Winburn program to put defibrillators in Cincinnati police cars.
Mr. Winburn, a minister, announced the Provident Bank donation at a press conference that seemed at times almost like a church service — with prayers, testimonials from relatives of gun violence victims, inspirational song, and a hand-holding benediction.
The council member introduced the man he said inspired him to start the trigger-lock giveaway program — Eugene Sams, a high school friend. Mr. Sams' handgun was stolen nearly 10 years ago and ended up being used in the murder of Cincinnati police Spc. Ronald Jeter and Officer Daniel Pope in Dec. 1997.
“I have experienced a lot of pain and grief because of what happened,” said Mr. Sams, who said he bought the
gun 21 years ago to protect his family. “Maybe if a gun lock had been available, those men would be alive today.”
The padlock-like devices fit over the trigger guard of most handguns and can be removed only with a key.
Bernadette Watson, president of the Avondale Community council, said her community backs the plan.
“When — not if — this initiative is successful, there will be a lot of homes in Cincinnati that are a lot safer,” Ms. Watson said.
Mr. Winburn's council colleagues were supportive of the effort — one of several in recent years that has involved private companies funding public enterprises.
“The government can't do everything; and there is plenty of room for partnerships between the government and the private sector,” Mr. Winburn said.
Mayor Roxanne Qualls said she sees nothing wrong with private companies joining with local governments to fund certain programs.
“If it's a program that is actually a city program, the city should fund it,” Ms. Qualls said. “This is something the city would not have done on its own.”
Police Division officials are starting to work on the details of how the trigger locks would be distributed.
Mr. Winburn said it is likely that the police division would set up several locations in the city and offer gun owners a “window of time” when they can come in and pick up the trigger locks and learn how to use them.
Mr. Winburn said the giveaway will be a “test program” to see if it is necessary for the city to pass legislation requiring trigger locks be sold with guns. Currently, there are no gun shops in the city.
Gun safety is already an issue at the state level, where an Ohio House committee is mulling legislation that would require a trigger lock on every gun sold in Ohio.
The measure, sponsored by Rep. Sylvester Patton, D-Youngstown, also would prohibit the sale of firearms unless dealers provide each buyer with a printed notice of state and federal gun-control laws.
“This is a common sense measure to protect our children,” Mr. Patton said. “I don't think anybody would want their children going over a friend's house where there are guns without trigger locks.”
Mr. Winburn, who formerly opposed stronger gun laws, is going forward with his trigger-lock give-away, but he is not ready to support a bid by the five Democrats on city council to file a lawsuit against handguns manufacturers, as other cities have done.
At Wednesday's council meeting, he voted against a motion, which passed by a 5-4 vote, to go forward with the suit.
Two of Mr. Winburn's fellow Republicans on council, Phil Heimlich and Jeanette Cissell, questioned whether the city should spend the money on pursuing a suit against the manufacturers. Charterite Jim Tarbell also opposed the motion.
A public hearing on the possible lawsuit against gun manufacturers will be held by council's law committee at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
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