Free firearm lock boxes available to Buckley, east Pierce County residents

Published 1:30 am Monday, June 8, 2026

Editor’s note: The following is a revised press release from Pierce County.

Buckley and other east Pierce County residents are now able to receive a free firearm lock box from Pierce County.

On June 8, Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello announced that the county is investing $300,000 to expand Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department’s firearm lockbox distribution and education work. Mello made the announcement during a press event at the Eastside Family Resource Center during Gun Violence Awareness Month.

The Health Department will use the funds to buy 1,500 biometric lockboxes and distribute to residents for free at its Family Resource Centers, and at community events throughout Pierce County. The Department will also provide education to people around the county about the benefits of lockbox use.

The nearest Family Resource Center for Buckley residents is 250 W. Main, Building 200. The center can be contacted by email at leah@answerscounseling.org or phone at (360) 829-5883. The firearm lock boxes are available immediately.

Another Family Resource Center is located at Sumner Middle School, 1508 Willow St., Portable 705.

Mello was joined by Director of Health Chantell Harmon Reed, Tacoma Police Chief Patti Jackson and Shalisa Hayes, executive director of the Billy Ray Shirley III Foundation and board president for the Alliance for Gun Responsibility. The idea for expanded funding for the program grew out of a roundtable hosted last year by the Executive’s Office. That event focused on youth violence prevention.

“Safe and secure gun storage saves lives and keeps your firearm from ending up in the wrong hands,” Executive Mello said. “Lockboxes allow quick access when you need to protect yourself or your family while also protecting our community. Every injury and death from gun violence is preventable. This public health program is already doing effective prevention work, and this new funding helps us meet people where they are to get even more lockboxes to responsible gun owners. We urge everyone with a firearm to take advantage of this program to make Pierce County safer.”

“A properly secured firearm is far less likely to be used in a preventable tragedy,” said Chantell Harmon Reed, Director of Public Health at Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. “We are thankful for Executive Mello and Pierce County’s commitment to help us prevent future firearm tragedies.”

During the event, Hayes shared her personal experience with gun violence.

“As a teenager, I lost so many friends to gun violence that by the time I was an adult I made the conscious decision to stop going to funerals. The number was just too high,” Hayes said. “The funeral experience had become so repetitive that I became numb to death as the result of a firearm.”

Then, in 2011, Hayes lost her son Billy Ray Shirley III to gun violence. “Imagine the thoughts, the fear, the grief I experienced when I was forced to plan the very thing I had began to avoid.”

Hayes stressed that we can all do more to protect children and families from gun violence, starting with initiatives like the lockbox program. “I am not anti-gun, I am pro-gun safety,” Hayes said. “Multiple people in Billy Ray’s village, the people that helped me raise him, are [serving] or have served in the military. So we are a family full of gun owners. But we are also a family that believes in personal responsibility and gun safety.”

“When a lawfully owned gun falls outside of the control of its owner — whether that’s through theft, loss, or unauthorized access — the effects reach well beyond the original intent. This is especially true when guns are stolen,” Tacoma Police Chief Patti Jackson said during today’s event. “Last year, approximately 300 firearms were reported stolen in Tacoma alone. More than 125 of those firearms were stolen from vehicles. Those numbers highlight why secure storage remains such an important part of this conversation.”

“In Pierce County, guns are the leading means of suicide among adults and the second leading means among adolescents,” said Dr. Lucas McIntyre, Medical Director of Intensive Outpatient Psychiatry at MultiCare Health System. “We see firsthand how secure firearm storage can save lives. When firearms are locked and inaccessible, the risk of impulsive self‑harm and accidental injury drops dramatically. This initiative is an important investment in the safety and wellbeing of our community.”

Firearms are the second-leading cause of death among 15–34-year-olds in Pierce County, second only to overdoses. Between 2019 and 2023, more than 50 people in Pierce County died from gun violence before their 25th birthday. Properly securing your firearm can help prevent:

Suicide: In far too many cases, someone in crisis gains access to a family member’s unlocked firearm.

Theft: Hundreds of thousands of guns are stolen from homes and vehicles in the U.S. each year. One study found stolen guns are nine times more likely to be used in a crime.

Accidental death or injury: Children and others can get hurt or die if they have access to an unsecured firearm.

Washington is among 26 states with laws requiring safe gun storage.

An increasing number of Washington gun owners are safely storing their firearms. A study from UW Medicine last year found that the percentage of adults in Washington who reported storing household firearms securely rose from 34.9 percent to 48.8 percent. However, secure storage did not improve significantly among survey respondents in small towns and rural areas.

Lockboxes are now available at Family Resource Centers countywide. You can learn more about the Health Department’s work to curb gun violence in Pierce County at tpchd.org/choosepeace.