Gun Safety Week: 'Gun Ownership Should Be Handled Like Other Serious Health Threats'

WASHTENAW (WWJ) - Police and local officials in the Ann Arbor area began Gun Safety Week by highlighting prevention and awareness of gun violence -- now considered at epidemic levels.

Washtenaw Board of Commissioners Felicia Bravic says gun ownership should be handled like any other serious health threat.

"We need education, we need a commitment to individual safety - we need each other and we need a commitment to strong, more protective policies and comprehensive prevention strategies," Bravic told WWJ's Ron Dewey.

She says in her district one of the biggest concerns with gun violence is suicide, which outnumbers other forms of gun death like homicide by a 5-1 margin.

In Washtenaw County Sheriff Jerry Clayton says that he urges gun-owner safety.

"Just the time that it takes for you to unlock that gun and do the things you have to do to prepare to use it on yourself," says Clayton, "might be enough time for you to rethink and maybe you don't take your life."

He says that gun deaths are a part of landscape everyday - not just from mass shootings.

This year, Gene Kopf, father of Abigail Kopf, one of the victims in the Kalamazoo shootings will be on hand to speak.

According to the Ypsi Charter Township website -- local law enforcement agencies will be giving away free gun locks to the public and will have information about gun safety and how residents can help keep themselves and their families safe.