With assistance from the Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS) and Lock and Talk Virginia, the Sheriff’s Office is now making free gun locks and medication lock boxes available to Alexandrians.

Medication lock boxes and firearm cable and trigger locks can be picked up at the Sheriff’s Office Visitor Center at the Alexandria Public Safety Center at 2003 Mill Road. The Visitor Center is staffed 24 hours a day and no appointment is necessary. Deputies will also have gun locks and lock boxes at many community events where members of the public can stop by the Sheriff’s Office table and take what they need.

In addition to reducing accidents and helping to keep children safe, these devices can help prevent suicide. According to DCHS, “Studies show that when firearms are accessible, individuals are three times more likely to die by suicide, and most people who die by suicide use firearms, poisons or medications. Suicide and accidents can be prevented by limiting access to lethal means and talking with those who may want to end their lives. The best strategy for protecting a person at risk is to remove lethal means from the home until a mental health crisis is resolved.”

The locking devices are an initiative of Lock and Talk Virginia, a suicide prevention program that aims to curtail access to lethal means and increase awareness about suicide prevention, locally coordinated by the Suicide Prevention Alliance of Northern (SPAN) Virginia. For more information about suicide risks and prevention, visit alexandriava.gov/go/2048.

Medication lock boxes can also prevent prescription medications from being misused and reduce overdoses.