Pierce County has 1,500 biometric gun lockboxes to give out for free, leaders say

Pierce County announced a $300,000 investment to expand access to gun lockboxes and a community firearm education program Monday morning.

Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello announced the expansion of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department program at a press conference at the Eastside Family Resource Center. The funding will be used to purchase the 1,500 firearm lockboxes, as well as expand education on gun violence prevention and direct outreach to gun owners.

“All of us know how critical it is to keep our community safe, especially our kids,” Mello said. “Unfortunately, we’re all too familiar with how gun violence impacts our communities.”

The new lockboxes are free to residents and will be available for pick-up at the health department’s nine family resource centers spread across the county. Additionally, lockboxes will be available for pick-up at local shooting ranges and firearm retailers. The boxes are biometric, using fingerprint scanning instead of a numerical code to unlock. At pick-up, residents will be informed how to operate them. They will be available for pick-up beginning June 8.

In an email shared with The News Tribune, TPCHD Communications Director Kenny Via shared that, since 2019, more than 1,000 firearm lockboxes had been distributed by the department. Since fall 2025, TPCHD distributed 302 lockboxes. He noted that staffers would collect resident demographic information, targeting firearm owners and people who have family members or friends who own firearms.

“We’ve found most people like the larger boxes, such as the biometric ones, that can hold more than one firearm at a time,” Via wrote.

Alongside Mello, Tacoma Police Chief Patti Jackson, TPCHD Director Chantell Harmon Reed, and Director of the Billy Ray Shirley III Foundation Shalisa Hayes. Behind them, county employees, council members, and MultiCare employees stood. Each wore an orange ribbon symbolizing lives lost to gun violence.

All speakers emphasized the importance of safely storing firearms, especially in vehicles. Chief Jackson shared that, last year, approximately 300 firearms were reported stolen in Tacoma, with more than 125 of those guns stolen from vehicles. In the first five months of this year, Chief Jackson shared that over 50 firearms have already been stolen. According to the Sheriff’s Office, over 1,000 firearms have been stolen from vehicles in unincorporated Pierce County since 2020. Recent data suggests, as shared by Mello, that the county has 22 gun deaths per year for residents under the age of 25, with half dying from suicide.

“A stolen gun may be passed from person to person, possessed by someone who is prohibited from having it,” Chief Jackson said.

Hayes spoke last. Her 17-year-old son, Billy Ray Shirley III, was fatally shot in 2011 in Tacoma. She’s been an advocate for gun violence prevention and a pivotal force in making the Eastside Community Center a reality in his honor.

“Regardless of what my personal experience is, I think we can all agree that it is not normal for a parent to bury a child,” Hayes said. “It is also not normal for us to not take action to do more, to keep our families and our communities safe. … Please take advantage of this opportunity and lock up your guns.”

This story was originally published June 8, 2026 at 2:43 PM.

Jabez Choi

The News Tribune

Jabez Choi is a reporting intern for the Tacoma News Tribune for the summer of 2026. He graduated from Yale University where he was the co-editor-in-chief of The New Journal. Previously, he interned at the New Haven Independent.