September 2019

Re.: Unauthorized use of Project ChildSafe® gun locks
Dear Project ChildSafe Law Enforcement Partner:
For two decades, the National Shooting Sports Foundation® (NSSF®), the trade association for the firearms
industry, has been providing firearm safety kits that include a free gun lock to more than 15,000 law
enforcement departments through its Project ChildSafe program. We appreciate your agency’s partnership
in promoting firearms safety education.

It has come to our attention that local representatives of the Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand
Action and other groups have been requesting Project ChildSafe locks and materials for distribution at
events in communities around the country, sometimes in connection with Everytown’s “Be SMART”
program. We are grateful for your willingness to distribute Project ChildSafe safety kits, but we ask that you
NOT provide Project ChildSafe firearm safety kits to these groups and instead direct them to the NSSF.

Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action and other groups
are funded by individuals who support and advocate for firearms public
policy legislation and regulations at both the state and federal levels.
We have found that their safety events often include calls for political
advocacy for gun control.

While we respect their First Amendment rights to express their political
views or their own message on firearm safety, we hope you can
appreciate that having our Project ChildSafe safety kits misappropriated
by these groups creates confusion in the public about whether Project
ChildSafe and our materials are associated with or are in support of
Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action and the firearms
public policy positions taken by them. We are also concerned that this
association could undermine the Project ChildSafe program in the eyes
of the gun-owning community. Such unauthorized use may also violate
federal law, in particular 15 U.S.C. § 1125, which imposes civil liability
An example of a Project ChildSafe firearm
for false assertions of sponsorship or approval.
safety kit being misappropriated by

Project ChildSafe is successful because it has been created by and for gun Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms
Demand Action.
owners, and it does not attempt to use firearms safety education as an
entry point to discuss other policy issues. Maintaining this clear
distinction is critical to ensuring that Project ChildSafe and its message are credible with gun owners, and
helps keep the trend of decreasing fatal firearms accidents moving in the right direction.

To ensure the effectiveness and integrity of Project ChildSafe going forward and to avoid confusion as to
sponsorship or approval, we ask for your cooperation with this request. Thank you for your understanding.
Please contact Bill Brassard at bbrassard@nssf.org if you have any questions.