WOODLAND – As part of the &uot;largest firearms safety&uot; program, Woodland Police Chief Don Ryan was the second stop this week as area law enforcement officers recieve their share of 20 million free gun locks.

Project ChildSafe, an expansion of Project HomeSafe, is distributing a total of 20 million free firearm safety kits in an attempt to raise awareness to safe and responsible firearm ownership.

Woodland Police Chief Don Ryan said he was pleased to be a part of the program and excited to participate in providing the free gun locks.

The gun locks will be available at the Woodland Town Hall.

&uot;We are asking gun owners to take advantage of this program.

&uot;With the number of hunters we have in the town and surrounding area, these could very well save a life,&uot; Ryan said.

Ryan went on to say the Project ChildSafe is becoming one of the most comprehensive firearm safety education programs in the nation.

In an interview Monday, Murfreesboro Police Chief Darrell Rowe said his office had received the gun locks and would be making them available to residents in that town.

Both police chiefs said if, by using these locks, one life was saved, it was worth the effort.

&uot;We have a couple of hundred locks in Woodland,&uot; Ryan stated. &uot;We want to get them to the peope that have guns and that will use them.

&uot;I encourage anyone who owns a firearm to contact their local police department to find out what they need to do to obtain the gunlocks,&uot; he added.

Gary Paeglow, representative of Project ChildSafe, said locks would be distributed to local law enfocement offices across the nation.

Paeglow is working the east coast and will traveling from town to town until his portion of the free locks are distributed.

In all, 15 ChildSage distibution trucks are taveling the country in an effort make firearms more safe for everyone.

For more information about the gun locks in Woodland, call 587-7161; in Murfreesbor, call 398-4151.