TULALIP — Guns can be found in more than a third of Washington homes.
And in 12 percent of homes, those guns likely are loaded, state health officials say.
As a step toward improving gun safety, lockboxes and trigger locks will be given away during an event scheduled from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Cabela’s in Tulalip.
This is the second such event in Snohomish County. The first was held last year in Monroe.
“People started lining up before the event started” last year, said Shawneri Guzman, an injury prevention specialist at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett. “We ended up turning people away,” she said. “We had gone through our supply.”
This year, they have a supply of 350 lockboxes and 100 trigger locks to give away. Lockboxes typically are used to store hand guns while trigger locks also can be used on larger firearms such as hunting rifles and shotguns, Guzman said.
Most of the patients treated at Everett’s hospital for accidental shootings involve a gun that someone thought was unloaded, Guzman said. Last year, eight children were injured in such incidents.
“A lot of people think it was unloaded or put in a safe place,” she said. “What people don’t realize about kids is they climb. If you’re hiding a gun up and away, they’ll find it.”
That’s what happened in 2014, when a 3-year-old Lake Stevens boy climbed up on a bedroom dresser, retrieved his dad’s pistol from the holster and pulled the trigger.
In May, a jury convicted his father of reckless endangerment, a gross misdemeanor. The boy, now 5, will require additional surgeries, including reconstruction of his jaw.
“We believe any time there are weapons in the home, they need to be secured,” said Aaron Snell, an Everett police officer. Weapons in the hands of children or inexperienced users increases the chances of accidental injuries, he said.
Guzman, who also serves as president of the nonprofit Safe Kids Snohomish County, said one of the messages the group tries to share with children is if they see a gun, “run, don’t touch it, and tell an adult.”
The use of gun locks and lockboxes also can reduce gun-related suicides by 75 percent, Guzman said. Of the dozen youths who took their lives in 2015, half used firearms, according to the Snohomish Health District.
Guzman said her husband works in law enforcement. When friends of her kids come over to play, she tells them and their families that they have a gun in the home and it’s locked in a safe.
Saturday’s event is an opportunity for families who might not be able to afford the gun-safety devices to get them, or for those who didn’t really think about getting them before, she said.
Guzman said she can imagine grandparents who have grandchildren who are coming over for a weekend visit thinking, “Wow. Maybe I should lock up my gun.”
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com.
Gun lockboxes and trigger locks will be given away between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday at Cabela’s, 9810 Quil Ceda Blvd., Tulalip. There also will be training on how to use the safety devices. The event is sponsored by Providence Regional Medical Center Everett and the Tulalip Tribes.
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