Crime & Safety
Petition Created Against National Shooting Sports Foundation Grant Award
NSSF was awarded a DOJ grant for its Project ChildSafe program. Two groups created a petition to cancel the funding.
The Department of Justice awarded Newtown-based National Shooting Sports Foundation a grant for its free gun lock program, but the move has upset at least two other groups.
The DOJ awarded a two-year $2.4 million grant for NSSF’s Project ChildSafe program to encourage responsible firearm storage. The Newtown Action Alliance and Coalition to Stop Gun Violence launched a petition to cancel the grant.
“Unsafe storage of firearms is a major public health issue in our nation. While we fully support programs aimed at reducing gun fatalities and injuries, we do not believe that taxpayer dollars should be used to fund the corporate gun lobby,” said Ladd Everitt, director of communications for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. “Project ChildSafe has a terrible track record and the NSSF’s lobbying activity makes it clear they have no intention of protecting our children if it means limiting industry profit.”
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Project ChildSafe has distributed more than 37 million free firearm safety kits across the U.S. and its territories, according to the NSSF.
“Programs like Project ChildSafe work because proper storage of firearms when not in use is the number one way to help prevent firearm accidents, misuse and theft,” said Steve Sanetti, NSSF president and CEO in a release. “We’re honored to be recognized by the DOJ in our efforts to promote that message and going the extra step to make a means of safe storage readily available to gun owners.”
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The two groups plan to deliver the petition in the coming weeks.
“We call on Americans to sign our petition and demand that DOJ stop funding an organization that promotes a lethal Any Gun, Anywhere, Anytime agenda,” said Po Murray, chairman of the Newtown Action Alliance. “It is inconceivable that DOJ can’t find a more appropriate recipient for this grant if they are truly interested in reducing gun violence.”
The two opposing groups also contend that the program has had problems in the past which required large recalls.
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