Texas Gun Control Advocate Prevented From Getting Free Locks

A firearms trade association distributing taxpayer-funded gun locks to Texas residents to prevent accidental shootings advised the Austin Police Department not to give any to a woman affiliated with a gun control advocacy group, emails show.

The Police Department ultimately rejected Leesa Ross' request last year for 100 cable locks that were being given out as part of a program that followed several mass shootings, including one at a Houston-area high school that officials said was carried out by a teenager using his dad's guns. Ross, whose son died from an unintentional shooting in 2009, advocates for safe firearm storage at Austin schools and gives out gun locks.

Behind the scenes, the National Shooting Sports Foundation had expressed concerns that Ross' gun control associations could risk alienating firearm owners, the Houston Chronicle reported. The foundation was responsible for overseeing a $1 million grant announced by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to flood the state with 625,000 free cable gun locks. The cables are threaded through a gun’s chamber to prevent it from firing.

The group issued a memo to its law enforcement partners telling them not to give the gun locks to members of Everytown for Gun Safety's survivor network and Moms Demand Action, two national groups that support stricter firearm laws. Ross is affiliated with Everytown for Gun Safety’s survivor network.