CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) — Officials in Champaign County are trying to teach people how to properly store firearms through a gun safety initiative.

In September, Champaign County received more than $150,000 from the Illinois Department of Public Health. The program’s goal is proper gun storage and theft prevention.

“If you want the responsibility of being a firearm owner, you need to take the responsibility to learn how to store it correctly and safely,” said Erin Hardway, whose husband died at the hands of a stolen firearm.

Gun Safety Training Coordinator Shawna Den Otter said the program is helping. Even though it’s tough to track whether the gun safes, locks and trainings are stopping crimes that could have happened, she said they’ve given out over 200 safes to people across the county and are struggling to keep them in stock.

That’s an encouraging sign for Erin Hardway, who lost her husband to a bullet fired from a stolen gun.

“My husband Brandon was shot with a gun that was stolen out of vehicle,” Erin said.

Monday marked the one-year anniversary of the death of Brandon Hardway. He was outside of Pour Bros. Craft Taproom in Downtown Champaign, where he worked, when he was shot with a gun his wife Erin said was improperly stored.

“And I honestly believe if the gun owner had properly stored their firearm, then my husband would be alive today,” Hardway said.

The Hardways were only married for three months before his tragic death. This scenario is what Champaign County’s gun safety initiative is trying to prevent. They’re offering free biometric gun safes, cable locks and trainings to help you store your guns properly.

“The safes are very popular and the list for them to be picked up is quite long,” Den Otter said.

She said they’ve given out more than 200 so far. However, Den Otter said that’s not the only success story.

“Where I think I’m making the biggest difference is in schools,” she said. “They are sending home information about secure storage, working with different school districts on making it available to their families.”

Erin said she’s grateful the county is making safe storage a priority. She’s also helping in her own way by trying to make mental health resources available for people who need them.

“I fully believe that access to mental health care would have also prevented this tragedy,” Erin said.

She’s pushing for more money and providers to come to Champaign County.

“Otherwise, these types of things are going to continue to happen,” Erin said.

Den Otter said they will continue to hold monthly trainings on Zoom for anyone who wants to learn about safely storing their guns. She’s also planning to have a booth at the Urbana farmers market when it warms up and is looking forward to moving out from Champaign-Urbana to reach the rest of Champaign County.