CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It's bright and small but still could have a big impact on protecting the community.
We're talking about gun locks and the chance to get one is absolutely free.
“It might save the life of that person or save the life of someone else," Bernel Berry, with 1Love, said.
Bernel Berry is the founder of 1Love, an organization he first started back in 2014 to mentor the community and help build better relationships between police and those they serve.
"We get out into the community and we’re hands-on," Berry explained. "We talk to the kids, we talk to the teenagers. We walk the neighborhoods."
But recently he’s seen the news of some of these same neighborhoods with shooting victims as young as one and three years old along with some teenage shooters who police say are to blame.
“After seeing the rise in crime with the youth and the teenagers that are getting this easy access to handguns, we’re not asking the parents to bring the handguns and turn them in we’re just asking for the parents and the community to keep it safe," Berry said.
And that means keeping guns locked.
1Love also offers resources to teens in need through their 24/7 hotline.
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Contact Briana Harper at bharper@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.