Former Piedmont resident Lesley Hu (PHS ’97) lost her 9-year-old son Pierce to gun violence when he was shot and killed in San Francisco by her ex-husband on Jan. 13, 2021. In the aftermath of the terrible crime, and to prevent more death, Hu channeled her grief into advocacy, founding Pierce’s Pledge — an organization that works with family law attorneys to require clients to disclose and temporarily store weapons in a third-party location while difficult divorce and custody proceedings go forward.
On Monday night, Hu — joined by the campaign’s firearm storage specialist Cody Dougherty (PHS ’97 and childhood friend of Hu’s) — asked Piedmont city councilmembers to join San Francisco in creating a free safe gun storage area in the police department.
“Gun violence is the leading cause of death of children in America. We know this, and we need to do something about it,” Hu said, in an emotional introduction to the campaign she is spearheading.
Pierce’s Pledge aims to tackle the issue of guns in the home during the especially fraught situation of divorce. According to the organization’s website, on average, one child a week is murdered by a parent or step-parent during divorce, separation, child support, visitation, or custody negotiations.
“If we’re going to ask clients to store their guns, we need a place to store the guns,” Hu said.
Dougherty outlined the need for free safe storage locations. When the organization first started, Dougherty said she called federal firearm license storage locations across the country — almost all were gun dealers — and none were receptive to their outreach. “I ended up applying for my own FFL,” she said. “We have mapped every state and created a national firearm storage map.”
As a result of Hu’s advocacy, on Sept. 8, 2025 San Francisco launched its own Safe Storage Program, available to all residents for free. Hu said the group is in talks with San Diego to create a similar program.
The presentation was an informational item only, but councilmembers, moved by Hu’s story, appeared interested in pursuing the idea.
Police Chief Frederick Shavies said the department was looking at the organization’s toolkit and San Francisco’s model. “It is something we can do,” said Shavies, who noted that formalizing the program in Piedmont would require new policies even if it did not appear to pose a burden on department resources.
“I am happy to continue this conversation,” said Mayor Betsy Smegal Andersen.
Shavies said Hu and Dougherty will be making their presentation to Alameda County police leadership later this week. Most police departments will take guns, Hu noted, but “we just need to formalize the arrangement” so that people know that it exists. “We have to start somewhere,” she said.