The Illinois Department of Public Health awarded a new grant to Champaign County in July to be used for the development of a new gun safety program.
Champaign County has teamed up with the Illinois Attorney General’s office and Be SMART, a national gun safety campaign, to provide education on responsible firearm ownership. Educational training will focus on informing the community about safe storage practices and Firearm Restraining Orders.
The Champaign County Board began discussing gun safety more urgently early this year, following the fatal shooting of Brandon Hardway at a bar in downtown Champaign. The gun used in the crime was reportedly stolen from a nearby car.
Elly Hanauer-Friedman, representative for District 4 on the board, is an active member of Moms Demand Action, a national gun safety advocacy group with chapters in every state.
“Gun thefts from cars are on the rise,” Hanauer-Friedman said. “That’s nationwide, but we’ve certainly seen it here as well, and it’s something that’s really easy to fix.”
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Everytown for Gun Safety, a national gun violence prevention organization, found in May that cars parked at residences are the largest source of stolen guns. These stolen weapons are often later used in violent crimes, as was the case in the 2021 shooting of Caroline Schollaert in Riverside, Florida, and many other instances.
Child access to unsecured guns is another prevalent concern of parents and advocates alike, as unsafe storage practices can cause unintentional harm to a child or those around them.
“These are just tragedies which are just completely preventable by using a gun lock or a gun safe,” said Hanauer-Friedman.
The program plans to address these issues by offering free gun locks and safes to the public.
The county will be using a “train the trainer” model to educate staff across fields including law enforcement, social work and healthcare. Developers of the program especially hope to raise awareness of FROs.
Signed into Illinois law in 2019, FROs allow a judge to temporarily remove any guns owned by an individual reported as concerning by a friend, family member or law enforcement.
In addition to impacting the local level, Hanauer-Friedman hopes for larger-scale reform.
“As a parent, I don’t like that my children have to go through active shooter drills,” Hanauer-Friedman said. “I don’t like that we live in that reality.”
The program will begin holding training in late fall. Free gun locks are now available at locations including the Champaign County Executive’s Office on Washington Street and the Champaign-Urbana Public Health Department on Kenyon Road.
