A new campaign focused on preventing unintentional shootings of children will kick off with a session Thursday at Columbus City Hall.
Be SMART for Kids and Everytown for Gun Safety will present the Be Smart campaign, focused on the prevention of unintentional shootings by children at the session.
The event will take place at noon in the Cal Brand Meeting Room at Columbus City Hall, 123 Washington St. Free gun locks will be distributed by the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office while supplies last.
Be SMART volunteers will be joined by representatives from local government, health care, law enforcement and schools to talk about the program and why they are committed to it.
Be SMART, a public education campaign asking everyone to come together to reduce the number of unintentional shootings, suicides and homicides that occur when firearms are not stored responsibly, was launched by Moms Demand Action.
Several area law enforcement and education officials have recorded videos promoting the event and gun safety, including representatives from Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp., Columbus Police Department, the city of Columbus, and others, which is on Facebook.
SMART stands for:
- Secure all guns in your home and vehicles;
- Model responsible behavior around guns;
- Ask about the presence of unsecured guns in other homes;
- Recognize the risks of teen suicide; and
- Tell your peers to be SMART.
A study published in the Journal of Urban Health in 2018 estimated that 4.6 million children live in homes with at least one unsecured firearm. In an average year, more than 350 Americans are injured or killed in an unintentional shooting by a child who gained access to an unsecured gun.
