About 600 gun locks were handed out Monday, the first day of a gun-lock giveaway organized by the Wisconsin State Journal in response to the shooting death of a school principal in Sauk County last month.

"When you offer something like this at the tail end of a tragedy, it really motivates," said Carla Mercer, spokeswoman for Reedsburg Area Medical Center.

The medical center is one of more than 20 hospitals and clinics across south-central Wisconsin that have agreed to distribute the gun locks.

Eric Hainstock, the 15-year- old charged with first-degree murder in the death of Weston High School Principal John Klang, got a handgun and a shotgun from his home, authorities said. They said he did so by finding a key to his father's locked bedroom and by prying open a cabinet with a screwdriver.

Klang was shot three times inside the school's entrance Sept. 29 as he wrestled with the boy.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation's Project ChildSafe program and Master Lock have donated locks. Wal-Mart and a State Journal charity have donated money. The Madison Community Foundation is the partnership's banker.

Residents throughout the region have responded. At Gundersen Lutheran Clinic and Hospital in La Crosse, at least 380 gun locks were given out at three sites Monday.

"The response has been all positive," said Gundersen spokesman Chris Stauffer. "We haven't had any negative feedback. People get it."

Meriter Hospital, St. Mary's Hospital and UW Hospital in Madison collectively handed out about 120 locks by early Monday afternoon, officials said. Several patients asked for more than one lock.

At Divine Savior Health Care in Portage, an allotment of 100 locks was depleted by noon, said spokeswoman Jenny Sauer.

Locks will continue to be distributed this week. And next week, more hospitals will start giving them out.

For more information, go to www.madison.com/wsj/home/ forum.