A nationwide firearms safety tour of Iowa begins this week. Jim Teig, Assistant U-S attorney for Iowa’s Northern District, says the federal prosecutors invited the visit by Project HomeSafe. He says it’s a national trade federation of firearm manufacturers, and the tour’s funded in part by the federal justice department. Teig says any responsible gun owner will take steps to make sure their firearm is stored safely. He refers to the “tragic incident” in Council Bluffs last summer in which two young children playing with a shotgun they’d found badly injured a playmate, and Teig says that’s what they hope to avoid by handing out free gun locks. He says just like a smoke detector or carbon monoxide detector, the gun lock is another safety device and he’d like Iowans to think about using the locks. Teig says promoters of the HomeSafe Tour aren’t pushing gun control or advocating taking any guns away, but Teig says people who have a gun for protection in the home will only need it when they’re around, so if you’re not home the gun should be locked and put away, not left unattended. To learn more, click on the tour’s homepage, www.projecthomesafe.org.The project dates are Oct 7 Cedar Rapids, Oct 8 Iowa City, Oct 9 Waterloo, Oct 10 Cedar Falls, Oct 11 Marshalltown, Oct 12 Ames, Oct 13-14 Des Moines, Oct 15 Oskaloosa and Ottumwa, Oct 16 Burlington, Oct 17 Davenport, Oct 18 Clinton, Oct 19 Dubuque, Oct 20 Decorah, Oct 21 Mason City, Oct 22 Fort Dodge, Oct 23 Carroll, Oct 24 Storm Lake and Spencer, Oct 25 Sioux City, Oct 26 Council Bluffs, Oct 27 Creston.
