NORFOLK, Va. — Doctors at The Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters are seeing an alarming number of children with gunshot injuries, according to the hospital's trauma program manager.
Now at the entrance of the emergency room at CHKD sits free gun locks.
“They can just take one, no questions asked," said CHKD Trauma Program Manager Whitney Pierce.
Over the past three years, Pierce said doctors at the hospital treated more than 100 children with gunshot wounds.
"And 32 of those have been unintentional with a child having access to a firearm," Pierce said.
Law enforcement donated the gun locks back in 2022. Pierce said a United Way grant recently helped expand the locks to CHKD pediatrician offices and urgent care centers.
“Just the sheer amount of gunshot injuries we have been seeing and we do look at all of them and break it down to whether they were violence or accidental," Pierce said. "The accidental or unintentional ones can be so easily prevented.”
The gun locks look similar to bike locks and Pierce said they are easy to use.
"It goes through the barrel and has a key," Pierce said. "It is just a simple thing to keep kids away from it. It also could deter theft.”
Along with the lock, Pierce recommends people keep their guns unloaded and ammunition stored separately, if possible.
“It’s our job to keep children safe," Pierce said. "Children are curious and they are resourceful and this could happen in the blink of an eye so we have to avoid these tragedies.”
The gun lock packaging has a QR code. It takes people to a quick survey asking things like, do you feel the availability of the locks will make children safer, and did you notice the gun safety information?
The survey is entirely optional.
CHKD has a lot of information for families about gun safety.