Story County residents should feel safer now, thanks to a partnership between the Story County Sheriff’s Office and the Project Homesafe program.

Project Homesafe, the national firearms safety program of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, has partnered up with the Story County Sheriff’s Office to provide 1,000 free firearm safety kits to Story County residents.

“The kit contains a cable-style gun lock and a brochure with information on how to use the kit, as well as info on handling and storing guns in a safe manner and keeping guns in the home for security reasons,” said Gary Foster, captain of the Story County Sheriff’s Office.

Foster said the sheriff’s office has been pleased with the success of the program so far.

“We’ve given out probably 250 to 300 of them,” Foster said. “We’ve had a pretty good response from the department as well as the public.”

The goal of the program is to prevent children from gaining access to firearms, he said.

“If we can prevent one accident or death, it will have been worth the effort,” Foster said.

While the locks are an effective tool for preventing accidents, they do have their limitations, he said.

“This is not the cure for all gun problems,” Foster said. “They are not designed nor intended to withstand forced entry by an individual determined to defeat the lock by using force or other aggressive means.”

It has taken a little while to get the program up and running.

“Sheriff Fitzgerald was aware the program existed,” Foster said. “We applied two years ago, but it has taken this long to get the bugs worked out of the locks.”

Foster said he had not seen any demographic breakdowns, but said he assumes most of the locks have gone to Story County residents other than ISU students.

“I would hope not a lot of students possess firearms and have them available on campus,” Foster said.

University regulations prohibit firearms on campus or in student housing, and the Department of Public Safety strives to educate people of those regulations, said Gene Deisinger, DPS program manager.

“We help the community be aware firearms are not permitted on campus,” Deisinger said. “In the past, we have helped remove them from campus by providing temporary storage until they can be moved when people are unaware of the regulations. When people intentionally ignore the regulations and bring [guns], we will take them.”

Deisinger was not aware of any accidents in recent years involving guns, but said there have been some incidents in the residence halls.

“Last fall, we executed a search warrant for something unrelated and we found a handgun in the drawer. We seized it – not because it was illegal, but because it violated university policy,” Deisinger said. “We do receive some reports of people on campus with weapons.”

Foster said the sheriff’s office is glad to be able to administer the Project Homesafe program, but a tight budget may limit future gun safety programs.

“This project is something we feel we can be involved with now,” Foster said. “Any programs in the future will depend on personnel available. Our budget is tight right now, but we hope our officers can remain involved in gun safety programs.”

There is a limit of three kits per family and the sheriff’s office records the names of those who request a kit.

“We ask for names, so that if a collector would have 40 guns, he won’t come in today to get three, then tomorrow get three more and get three more the day after that,” Foster said.