Nicholas Wyllie had a routine with his firearms that he thought kept him and his family safe.

The illusion crumbled last Sept. 12 in the Bucks County home he shared with his son, 2-year-old Benjamin Smith.

The little boy said he was going to watch cartoons and left his dad's side. Moments later, handling the .45-caliber handgun he found in his dad's nightstand, he shot himself in the chest. He died in the arms of his father, who was powerless to help.

Wyllie on Thursday joined Bucks District Attorney Matthew Weintraub and other county officials in pushing to prevent this from happening to anyone else.

Calling it "Ben's Campaign - Lock It Up," Weintraub announced an initiative to provide a free firearms lock and gun safety information to everyone who comes to the courthouse for a firearms permit or wants one from local police across the county.

"This tragedy can happen to anybody," Wyllie said during a news conference at the courthouse in Doylestown.

A U.S. Army veteran, Wyllie kept two rifles on a shelf in his closet and the .45, loaded with hollow-points, on his hip at all times when he wasn't sleeping. That morning, enjoying time with his son, he left it in the nightstand.

"But it took just one misstep in my daily routine to create the current hell that my life has become," Wyllie continued. "If I had taken the extra step to put it in a lockbox or a safe or one of these $1.50 gun locks on my pistol, my son would still be here regardless of missing that step in the morning.

"But I didn't because I thought that I was being safe enough."

Wyllie was arrested last Sept. 28, and he pleaded guilty April 3 to involuntary manslaughter, endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment. He was sentenced immediately to between one year minus one day and two years minus one day in county prison. He must also complete 30 hours' community service, including gun safety education.

"And I know the majority of current gun owners are thinking two things right now: One, this kind of thing will never happen to me," he said Thursday. "And trust me, I was one of those people.

"And the second thing that you guys are probably thinking is he was probably just some idiot with a gun. I've heard that from a lot of people, that I shouldn't have owned guns, period. But the fact of the matter is like many gun owners, I've owned and had experience with firearms at a very young age."

An infantryman in the Army, he said: "It was my job to be proficient with many types of firearms to make sure that I was safe and my team was safe and this country was safe.

"So to say that I was just an idiot with a gun is not entirely correct. I'm just your average American, and this happened to me so this can happen to anybody."

The county is obtaining the locks through Project ChildSafe, and the education materials are coming from the Network Of Victim Assistance, or NOVA, in Bucks County.

"And we have directed them towards children for a reason because this shouldn't be a mystery and it shouldn't be difficult," NOVA Executive Director Penny Ettinger said. "We as parents and caregivers and grandparents make sure that our children are buckled in their car seat or seat belt every time they get in a vehicle because we want them to be safe.

"So we need to lock up our guns. And I would also say that in addition to the gun lock, your gun should be secured. Children find things, they're really good at it. So lock your ammunition and your guns separately. Be sure there's a gun lock on them. And talk to your children about guns and gun safety."

Weintraub has repeatedly called Ben's death 100 percent avoidable, and he said so Thursday, as well. Demonstrated during the news conference by county law enforcement officials, the guns locks fit on any type of long gun or handgun.

"So frankly there is no excuse for a person not to utilize them," he said.

The county has 1,500 gun locks to distribute for now.

"And I consider that only a head start," the prosecutor said. "We hope that this program will sustain itself for many, many years to come.

"The goal is not to eliminate guns, of course, but just to make sure that guns are handled safely."

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.