Safes or lockboxes can be a way to make sure firearms are kept out of the wrong hands.

This week, there will be two opportunities to access them for free in Federal Way.

The first gun lockbox giveaway will be from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, June 6, at the Federal Way Community Center, 876 S. 333rd St.

The second will be a drive-through style event starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 7, at the Federal Way City Hall, 33325 8th Ave. S. The safes will be first-come, first-serve, and are available to anyone in Washington state, although IDs won’t be requested at the event regardless. There will be two sizes and should easily fit for a typical handgun, according to police.

Friday’s lockbox giveaway will be hosted by Progress Pushers in partnership with the King County Regional Office of Gun Violence Prevention, Regional Peacekeepers Collective, Alliance For Gun Responsibility, and South King County municipal partners.

Saturday’s event will be hosted by the Federal Way Police Department (FWPD), which purchased the 500 safes using funds from a settlement between the Attorney General’s office and a Federal Way gun retailer that violated state law.

The FWPD shared that the biggest reason they are doing the lockbox giveaway is to “keep guns out of the hands of children and other vulnerable people.”

On Feb. 6, 2025, Federal Way Discount Guns and its owner, Mohammed Baghai, were ordered to pay $3 million for violating Washington’s prohibition on selling high-capacity magazines with the capacity to hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

Funds from this fine will go toward the gun lockbox giveaway on June 7, and toward a gun buyback event tentatively scheduled for August 2025, also hosted by the FWPD.

These gun safe giveaways are taking place during National Gun Violence Awareness Month, which features National Gun Violence Awareness days specifically from June 6 through June 8.

In Federal Way, Mayor Jim Ferrell shared a proclamation designating June as Gun Violence Awareness Month in a late addition to the agenda at the June 3 meeting of the Federal Way City Council.

The proclamation stated that the intention of the month “is to honor and remember all victims and survivors of gun violence, and to declare that we as a country must do more to reduce gun violence.”

Selena Taylor and Betty Taylor receive a proclamation from Mayor Jim Ferrell designating June 2025 as National Gun Violence Awareness month at the June 3 city council meeting. Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / The Mirror

Community members Betty Taylor and her daughter Selena Taylor spoke about the impact of gun violence on their lives at the council meeting.

Selena Taylor’s son Ezra Taylor was killed by gun violence in 2021, and the family has since dedicated consistent effort to prevent others from experiencing the grief they have had to bear and to help others facing the same pain.

They do this through community awareness and advocacy work, as well as through the organization they founded in memory of Ezra Taylor called Ezra’s Hands Outreach.

As previously reported in the Mirror, the organization works with young people to empower them in positive ways “before they even think about touching a gun or even think about touching something bad,” according to Selena Taylor.

At the council meeting, Betty and Selena Taylor spoke about Ezra’s memory and about what can be done to reduce violence in the future.

“Let this proclamation be more than words. Let it be a commitment to invest in youth, to support families impacted by trauma, to fund violence prevention programs, to create safe spaces and real resources in our neighborhoods,” Selena Taylor said.

After they spoke, Betty Taylor passed out orange T-shirts to the council members and Mayor Ferrell to wear during the national awareness days. The shirts read “Thoughts and Prayers” fading into a bold type “Policy and Change” at the bottom, referencing a recurring national motif of politicians sharing empty condolences in the wake of gun violence and the demand for tangible action through policy that brings change.

King County outlines a variety of strategies to reduce gun violence on its website, one of which is keeping firearms stored securely.

According to King County, about one in 5 adults in King County say a firearm is kept in or around their home, and about one-third of firearm owners with kids — and half of firearm owners without kids — don’t store their firearms locked up.

King County Public Health’s website for the lockbox giveaways celebrates progress on reducing gun violence and references a recently released report showing improvement in the first quarter of 2025.

At the council meeting, Anna Patrick spoke at public comment about these results, questioning the accuracy of this data in part due to the glaring absence of any data from Federal Way.

Federal Way Police Chief Andy Hwang confirmed at the council meeting that the data from Federal Way has now been handed over and the regional report will be amended to include it.

Betty Taylor hands out orange T-shirts at the dais to bring awareness to the issue of gun violence. The shirts read “Thoughts and Prayers” fading into a bold type “Policy and Change” at the bottom, referencing a recurring national motif of politicians sharing empty condolences in the wake of gun violence and the demand for tangible action through policy that brings change. Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / The Mirror