Gun Safety Tools and Resources
Banner with data fact stating every 30 hours a child is killed or injured by gun violence in LA County.
    

Contact Us

Office of Violence Prevention 1000 S. Fremont Ave.,
A9 East, Unit 61,
Alhambra, CA 91803

Phone: 626.293.2610
Email: ovp@ph.lacounty.gov


For data requests, please email: ovpdata@ph.lacounty.gov

For more information about what data is available for request, click here.PDF Icon

 How To Get A Free Gun Lock

location icon on map

In 2024, OVP is committed to distributing more than 60,000 cable gun locks – free of charge and no questions asked – across Los Angeles County. This unprecedented effort is designed to keep children safe from firearms, limit the possibility that a person intent on harming themselves or others can quickly secure a loaded, unlocked weapon, and guard against the theft of guns. To secure a lock from OVP, please fill out the form below (limit of two locks per person).


Free Gun Lock Banner

Free gun locks are available at participating LA County Medical Centers and LA County Libraries. Limit two free gun locks per family.

Expand Icon on MapClick on this icon on the map below to view all current LA County locations with available free cable gun locks you can pick up.


Firearms and weapons of any kind are prohibited at LA County Library and LA County Medical Centers locations. Do not bring a firearm to receive a gun lock.

Click here to view PDF of all current locationsPDF Icon


 Gun Safety Starts With You

Banner with data fact stating that every 30 hours a child is injured or killed by gun violence

Be Part Of The Solution

Gun safety is everyone’s responsibility, whether an individual owns a firearm or not. We all can play a role in learning about gun safety measures to protect our family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers and in working together to build a more peaceful society where all people can thrive. To address the public health crisis of gun violence, the Department of Public Health's Office of Violence Prevention is working with county and community partners to raise awareness and implement a comprehensive set of strategies to decrease gun violence deaths, life altering injuries and their social-emotional impacts in Los Angeles County.

Safely Secure Your Firearms.

Keep Guns Safely Stored. Keep ammunition locked separately.

Advocate for Community Safety

Join OVP’s Efforts to Prevent Gun Violence.


Foster Communication

Know the facts and become a community voice against gun violence.

Educate Yourself & Others

Educate yourself on restraining orders and finding the right tool for the right situation.


 The Impact of Gun Violence

National Statistics

Estimated
4.6 million
children live in a home
with unlocked, loaded guns. 1

Firearms were the
#1
leading cause of death
for children under the age of 20 in 2021. 2

26,993
gun suicides
nationally reached an all-time high in 2022.3

2 out of 3
women killed by an intimate partner
are killed with a firearm.4

Los Angeles County Statistics

818
LA County residents
died from firearm injuries in 2020.5

2,239
LA County residents
visited hospitals and emergency departments for non-fatal firearm injuries during 2020.5

64%
increase in firearm homicides
between 2019 and 20215

38%
of all suicides among Los Angeles County residents
during 2022 involved a firearm.6


 Take Action: Means Safety for Firearms

Means safety means taking steps to put barriers between someone's thoughts of harm to themselves or another and their access to lethal means, essentially placing a "speed bump" to reduce their risk of action. Means safety is a violence prevention strategy we can all practice, especially before the risk of violence or suicide may become apparent.

Some means safety practices for firearm prevention include:


Lock Icon

Keeping all firearms in the home secured and unloaded or at another location.

Convo Icon

Normalizing conversations about getting help among friends and family.

988 Icon

Learning the warning signs for violence and keeping numbers for crisis resoruces at hand.

Educate Icon

Educating yourself on other means safety practices.

 

To talk to someone about self-harm and/or suicide
or to get help now, call or text:
988

To learn more about means safety, including how to be safe about other lethals means such as medication or bridges, visit: https://strivingforsafety.org/

 Gun Safety Tools and Resources

In addition to practicing gun safety inside the home, there is important information you can share with others to reduce firearm deaths and injuries.

Gun Locks and Safe Gun Storage Save Lives Preview

Gun Lock and Safe Gun Storage Saves Lives Flyers

The following includes information on safe gun storage in English and Spanish.

To download the flyer, click here.PDF Icon


Secure Your Firearm Poster Preview

11"x18" Secure Your Firearms Secure Their Future Poster

Available in English and Spanish.

To download the English poster, click here.PDF Icon
To download the Spanish poster, click here.PDF Icon


Secure Your Firearm Social  Preview

Social Media Messaging

Download and share the campaign on your socials.

To download this social graphic, click here.PDF Icon


Secure Your Firearm Social  Preview

Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Resources

We encourage everyone to get connected with supportive mental health resources, get educated about warning signs and prevention strategies, and to get informed about the data.

To talk to someone about self-harm and/or suicide or to get help now, call or text 988.

Download Suicide Prevention Hotlines and Grounding ResourcesPDF Icon
Download Community Mental Health Hotlines and Resource SheetPDF Icon


Additional Resources

  • Be Smart for Kids
    Promotes responsible gun ownership to reduce child gun deaths.

  • BulletPoints Project
    Provides clinicians with the knowledge and tools to reduce firearms injuries and deaths with their patients.

  • Everytown for Gun Safety
    Everytown for Gun Safety is an American nonprofit organization which advocates for gun control and against gun violence.

  • Giffords Law Center
    Advocates for and seeks systemic change to reduce gun violence.

  • Hope and Heal Fund
    Supports and amplifies community-driven, public health solutions proven to prevent gun violence.

  • Moms Demand Action
    Grassroots movement that fights for public safety measures to protect people from gun violence.

  • Project Child Safe
    A program of the National Shooting Sports Foundation to promote firearms safety and education.

  • State Office of Gun Violence Prevention
    Newly formed agency that supports the efforts of the State Department of Justice to prevent gun violence and injury.

  • Striving for Safety
    Limiting a person’s access to means by which they may cause themselves harm is called lethal means safety, and here you’ll find information about a range of strategies to promote safety in times of crisis or in anticipation of crisis.

  • The Talk Project
    Provides information on gun storage, with an emphasis on keeping families safe.

  • White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention
    Established in 2023 to reduce the prevalence of gun violence in communities across the nation.

  • WoMen Against Gun Violence
    WAGV educates the public, policymakers and the media about the human, financial and public health consequences of gun violence.

“It is always an adult’s responsibility to make sure children are never in the presence of unsecured guns. Kids will be kids, so don’t assume a child will not find and touch an unsecured gun, even if they have been told not to."

- Everytown For Gun Safety

 
Public Health has made reasonable efforts to provide accurate translation. However, no computerized translation is perfect and is not intended to replace traditional translation methods. If questions arise concerning the accuracy of the information, please refer to the English edition of the website, which is the official version.
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