Pierce County announced a $300,000 investment to expand access to gun lockboxes and a community firearm education program Monday morning.
Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello announced the expansion of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department program at a press conference at the Eastside Family Resource Center. The funding will be used to purchase the 1,500 firearm lockboxes, as well as expand education on gun violence prevention and direct outreach to gun owners.
“All of us know how critical it is to keep our community safe, especially our kids,” Mello said. “Unfortunately, we’re all too familiar with how gun violence impacts our communities.”
The new lockboxes are free to residents and will be available for pick-up at nine family resource centers spread across the county. Additionally, lockboxes will be available for pick-up at local shooting ranges and firearm retailers. Unlike previously distributed lockboxes, the new boxes are biometric, using fingerprint scanning instead of a numerical code to unlock. At pick-up, residents will be informed how to operate the boxes. They will be available for pick-up beginning June 8.
Recent data suggests, as shared by Mello, that the county has 22 gun deaths per year for residents under the age of 25, with half dying from suicide.
Alongside Mello, Tacoma Police Chief Patti Jackson, TPCHD Director Chantell Harmon Reed, and Director of the Billy Ray Shirley III Foundation Shalisa Hayes spoke. Behind them, county employees, council members, and MultiCare employees stood. Each wore an orange ribbon symbolizing lives lost to gun violence.
All speakers emphasized the importance of safely storing firearms, especially in vehicles. Chief Jackson shared that, last year, approximately 300 firearms were reported stolen in Tacoma, with more than 125 of those guns stolen from vehicles. In the first five months of this year, Chief Jackson shared that over 50 firearms have already been stolen. According to the Sheriff’s Office, over 1,000 firearms have been stolen from vehicles in unincorporated Pierce County since 2020.
“A stolen gun may be passed from person to person, possessed by someone who is prohibited from having it,” Chief Jackson said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Unincorporated Pierce County firearm theft statistics from the Sheriff’s Office
