School shooting spurs success of gun lock giveaway

FLINT (AP) - In the wake of the shooting death of a 6-year-old girl, 200 free gun locks were distributed to people here within about 30 minutes.

Last week, a 6-year-old boy killed fellow first-grader, 6-year-old Kayla Rolland, with a stolen handgun he apparently discovered loaded and lying in a bedroom at a "flophouse" where he was staying.

The shooting occurred a day after the two apparently had scuffled on the playground at Buell Elementary School in Mount Morris Township.

Prosecutors have said the boy is too young to understand what he was doing and probably won't be charged.

The child told investigators Wednesday that the shooting was an accident and that he had only been trying to scare the girl.

The boy put the gun in his desk after the shooting and went to the school office, school Superintendent Ira Rutherford said. And after police questioned him he sat there drawing pictures.

People showed up well in advance of the giveaway Saturday. The locks are intended to prevent small fingers from slipping around the trigger of a gun.

"Keep them coming," shouted gun owner Henry Bilal of Flint, who came too late to get a lock. "You've got our attention."

The free Master Lock brand key-entry gun lock is a metal cylinder that is installed to block the trigger, making it impossible to fire the gun.

President Clinton has said he would push congressional leaders to pass legislation requiring the locks; gun advocates have countered that such talk is an empty political gesture, and criminals will still have access to guns.

Many gun manufacturers are already distributing them with new guns.

The lock distribution was coordinated by the Flint chapter of the Emergency Nurses Association.

"We probably could have given away a thousand," said Mary Grba, a registered nurse with Genesys Health System and president-elect of the nurses group. "But it's important that people understand this doesn't replace education and warnings that guns aren't toys."

Children should be taught the difference between gun violence on television and the real-life consequences of firearm use, and to leave guns alone if found, she told The Flint Journal for a story Sunday.

The association plans another giveaway in about a month and also will hand out gun locks at a safety fair in Holly on May 20.

Hunter Larry Jozwiak of Flushing was among the first in line.

"My rifles are in a locked gun cabinet and the room is locked, but you can never be too safe," said Jozwiak, who has two children, a newborn and a 2-year-old.