SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A basketball legend is teaming up with the Springfield Police Department to promote firearm safety.

Shaquille O'Neal is collaborating with SPD and other police departments across the country to launch the "Right to Carry, Duty to Secure" effort to help encourage gun owners to safely secure their firearms.

Matt Barnes is a gun owner and a veteran. He says there are good ways to store a gun in a vehicle, but the best way is to not have it there at all.

"Whenever you stop that vehicle and move away from that vehicle, I always keep my gun on my person," Barnes said. "So at that point, it's on my body and I don't leave unsecured firearms within my vehicle."

According to SPD, 200,000 guns are stolen each year in the United States, and the leading source for these gun thefts is from vehicles. Springfield itself has seen 876 handguns stolen from vehicles since 2020, including 88 in 2024.

In an August city council meeting, Springfield Police Chief Paul Williams said gun violence is trending down this year.

"For the month of June, [there were] 17 shots fired calls and only three people injured," said Williams. "If you look down at the bottom, at the six-month total, 108 shots fired calls. If that continues throughout the course of the year, you can see where we were the last four years, that could put us back into 2015 numbers."

SPD says gun owners can safely secure their firearms by putting them in a gun safe or lock box and making sure to never leave a firearm unattended and unsecured in a vehicle.

Barnes says proper firearm education is also a necessity for gun owners.

"If you're going to have these things and operate these things, it only makes sense that you're educated on how they work and how dangerous they are, so you'll respect them enough to secure them," said Barnes.

The effort to ensure firearm safety is in a partnership with basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal, who released a video on gun theft statistics.

"With everything happening in the country right now, I'm glad to see any PD doing anything because something's got to be done. So every little bit helps," Barnes said. "Outreach goes further than I think people give it credit for."

News Source : https://www.ozarksfirst.com/news/spd-shaquille-oneal-partner-to-promote-firearm-safety/