Giveaway gun locks may be forced open

Wednesday, October 11th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

The free gun locks passed out by the Governor Frank Keating's office last spring may not be as safe as first thought. The gun locks, when hit on one side, pop open with just a minimum amount of force.

The National Sports Shooting Foundation distributed hundreds of thousands of gun locks across the country. Almost 23,000 were given away in Oklahoma. The foundation says the cable locks were never meant to be foolproof. "People can pick the locks with a paperclip,â€ said Tulsa Police spokesman sergeant Wayne Allen. â€œThere was no guarantee of safety, but they are still a deterrent from children handling loaded firearms."

The governor's office had planned to hand out 30,000 more gun locks on October 21st, but the shooting sports foundation says no more locks will be given away until tests can be completed. The foundation suggests that you keep your firearms in a safety box.