Tuesday, March 07, 2000
Sheriff orders guns locked
BY JANICE MORSE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON — For Butler County Sheriff's deputies, the phrase “lock 'em up” won't apply just to criminals anymore.
Butler County Sheriff Harold Don Gabbard demonstrates how a gun-safety lock makes the typical firearm difficult to conceal.
(Dick Swaim photo)
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Deputies who carry guns will be required to lock them up under a new policy, said Sheriff Harold Don Gabbard — possibly the first sheriff in Ohio to institute such a measure.
The policy is intended to help prevent his deputies' guns from being misused by children, the sheriff said.
“With this in place, it's impossible to touch the trigger,” Sheriff Gabbard said, demonstrating use of the “Life Jacket” gun-safety lock, which covers most of the gun. “Besides, this lock makes the gun more bulky and harder to hide ...”
The regulation will take effect as soon as a shipment of 175 of the locks arrives, the sheriff said. About half of the sheriff's 300 employees are authorized to carry guns and will be required to lock up their duty weapons during off-duty hours.
Although Sheriff Gabbard's announcement comes at a time when gun locks are being debated nationally, Col. Richard Jones, the sheriff's chief deputy, says that's coincidental. He and the sheriff began seriously discussing the idea almost a year ago, after the massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado.
Col. Jones said the devices are easy to use, effective and inexpensive. With a discount for ordering so many, the devices cost the sheriff's office about $20 apiece.
Bob Cornwell, executive di rector of the Buckeye State Sheriffs' Association, said he believes Sheriff Gabbard is the state's first sheriff to adopt this type of requirement.
“I'm just doing what I think should be done, and hoping that it catches on,” Sheriff Gabbard said.
Although gun-safety locks have been available for a number of years, police and citizens have only recently become more aware of them, Col. Jones said. That awareness has grown as the number of school shootings has mounted, he said
The sheriff's office ex pects controversy, Col. Jones said, since gun-rights lobbyists have spoken out against gun locks.
However, Sam Hopkins, immediate past president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 38, which represents sheriff's employees, said he doubts local officers will have a problem with the new rule.
“If the county's paying for the trigger guards, I think it's an excellent idea,” said Mr. Hopkins, a retired Hamilton police officer. “A lot of officers probably keep their guns locked up when they're off-duty anyway.”
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