A new billboard going up in Seattle this week carries a simple message from Grandmothers for Gun Responsibility: Please Lock Your Guns.

The latest installation is part of the national nonprofit’s safe storage campaign, which urges gun owners to take one basic step to help prevent children and teens from accessing firearms: securely store your guns. The Seattle billboard will be on view for four weeks at Olive Way and Boren Avenue, a high-traffic downtown location that carries more than 23,000 vehicles on an average weekday.

The billboard arrives following a series of deadly shootings involving young people across Seattle this year. In January, two Rainier Beach high school students were killed by a 15-year-old shooter. In May, a 17-year-old boy died after being shot inside a Rainier Valley apartment; police subsequently arrested a 13-year-old boy in connection with the killing. In June, a 15-year-old boy was seriously injured in a shooting in North Seattle. And in July, a 15-year-old was arrested after three people were killed and at least four others injured, including a toddler, during a mass shooting at the Bite of Seattle.

The new billboard presents a direct, nonpolitical message designed to resonate with gun owners and reinforce shared values of responsibility and safety. The goal is to help prevent tragedies, including accidental shootings and youth suicides, that can occur when children and teens have access to unsecured firearms.

“As grandmothers, we know that keeping a gun in the home comes with a responsibility to protect the people who live there, especially children and teens,” said Margaret Heldring, Ph.D, founder and executive director of Grandmothers for Gun Responsibility. “Locking a firearm takes seconds, but it can prevent a lifetime of heartbreak. We want every gun owner to make safe storage a priority, every time.”

Grandmothers for Gun Responsibility launched its safe storage billboard campaign earlier this year in Indiana and Pennsylvania, bringing its message to urban and rural communities with high rates of gun ownership. Additional national locations are being considered for safe storage billboard placements later this year.

PHOTO / INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY

WHAT: Grandmothers for Gun Responsibility will gather supporters near the organization’s new Seattle billboard for an intergenerational assembly calling on gun owners to securely store their firearms and help keep children and teens safe. Grandmothers, family members and gun safety advocates will come together in a sea of orange – the color of the gun violence prevention movement – to deliver a simple message to gun owners: Please Lock Your Guns.

WHEN: Monday, August 31, 2026 | 10:00–11:00 a.m.

WHERE: Olive Way & Boren Avenue, downtown Seattle

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A Generation in Action: About Grandmothers for Gun Responsibility

Grandmothers for Gun Responsibility is a Seattle-based grassroots, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization with more than 650 members in 43 states dedicated to preventing gun violence and promoting responsible gun ownership to protect children, families, and communities. Through education, advocacy, and community engagement, the organization works with members nationwide to advance common-sense solutions that reduce access to firearms by children and teens. For more information on safe firearm storage and Grandmothers for Gun Responsibility, please visit thegrandmothers.org.

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