Georgia sheriffs are pushing gun safety, announcing free gun locks for hundreds of citizens.

A week prior to the announcement, a 5-year-old in Jones County accidentally shot and killed his 2-year-old sibling. "The firearm used was loaded and left unattended inside the home when the children began to play with the gun and it was fired," according to Albanyherald.com .

Following the tragic accident, Jones County Sheriff Butch Reece announced that he would be handing out 100 free gun locks to residents in need.

A number of Georgia's county sheriff's departments will also be offering free gun locks, including Bibb, Muscogee and Dougherty counties, said U.S. Attorney Charles Peeler of Georgia's Middle District, which serves the residents of 69 counties in Georgia.

"This tragic accident serves as a reminder for all gun owners to make it a practice to lock up a firearm, and potentially save a child from injury or death," Peeler said, according to the Herald. "Free gun locks are available across the Middle District. If you need one, please pick one up at one of the distribution sites."

The free gun locks were donated by Project ChildSafe , a firearms safety education program developed by the firearms industry trade association. Since 1999, the organization has partnered with law enforcement agencies to distribute more than 37 million firearm safety kits to gun owners nationwide.

The accident in Jones County is just one of many this year to happen in Georgia. In two unrelated incidents in May, two children under the age of 10 were shot , though neither incident was fatal.

The increase in accidents places Georgia's relatively lax gun laws in the spotlight. Georgia received an "F" in the recent Annual Gun Law Scorecard , completed by Giffords Law Center. In the 2018 report, Georgia's gun death rate of 15.4 per 100,000 people was higher than the national average of 11.9. Although Georgia moderately strengthened its gun laws since the 2017 scorecard, according to the report, the state has a long way to go before it will reach the low numbers of states such as New York and Massachusetts, which both recorded 3.7 gun deaths per 100,000 people.

Implementing laws requiring universal background checks and restricting domestic abusers from accessing guns could save lives and help Georgia raise its grade above an "F" in the future, according to the scorecard.

"We promote responsible gun ownership in Jones County," Reece said, according to the Herald.