Press Release
Posted:
Clearlake – This week, Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-04) held a press conference at the Clearlake Tractor Supply Company store to highlight the importance of safe storage for firearms and to celebrate the decision by the Commerce Department to lift the tariffs on various gun safes.
“There are tragic stories about children finding unsecured firearms and shooting themselves or others accidentally, and we know that the safe storage of firearms would help stop these instances and save lives,” said Thompson. “At this press conference in Clearlake, we were able to highlight the importance of gun safes and how responsible gun owners can ensure that their firearms are properly secured. The recent decision by Commerce to lift tariffs on these gun safes will help save lives and keep firearms in secure locations.”
“As an old cop that has been doing this for a long time, I've always been a proponent of proper storage for firearms. I've been involved with cases where guns were stolen through theft or burglary and those guns end up in the hands of criminals. I’ve been involved in cases where those criminals then use those firearms to commit other crimes. I’ve even been involved in some cases where unfortunately, children gain access to unsecured firearms, sometimes leading to terrible results. The thing about all those scenarios is they're largely preventable with the use of a good gun safe. The bottom line is anything we can do to make gun safes available and affordable are things we should be doing,” said Lake County Sheriff Rob Howe.
“Millions of Tractor Supply customers and neighbors as well as our 52,000 Team Members are grateful for Rep Thompson’s leadership keeping high quality gun safes affordable and accessible for American families. His efforts clearly defined gun safes and prevented a huge price increase keeping safe gun storage within reach,” said Kent Knutson, Tractor Supply Co. Vice President for Government Relations.
According to Everytown, last year there were 355 unintentional shootings by children in the United States, resulting in 158 fatalities and 212 injuries.
When the Administration placed tariffs on metal lockers from China, they excluded gun safes from retaliatory tariffs because of the public health benefits of this product. When the Commerce Department implemented the tariffs, they placed tariffs on several common gun safes which should have been excluded from tariffs. These tariffs threatened to increase prices on common models of gun safes and discourage gun owners from responsibly storing their firearms.
Rep. Thompson led 50 members of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force in calling on Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to address the problem of tariffs that are raising the prices of secure gun storage options. The Commerce Department recently announced that these tariffs are being lifted. The administration’s action makes gun safes more affordable, allowing more people to buy them which keeps guns safely secure, away from children, and more difficult to steal.