Be smart with gun safety, save lives

By BARBARA ANN HORTON

Staff Writer

Brown Chapel AME Church and Northside Community Church recently have been home to an effort to recognize and provide eduction about gun violence.

A display hosted by the locations included a T-shirt to represent each child who has died in Missouri this year from gun violence.

Mary Perry of Puxico, who is with BeSMARTforKids, has been in charge of the local displays and offered free gun locks for those who don’t have them.

The BeSMART framework is designed to help parents and adults normalize conversations about gun safety and take responsible actions to prevent child gun deaths and injuries, Perry said.

Perry, who worked at Christian Community Day Care, said, “teaching 4- and 5-year-old children is my passion.”

“BeSMART is not against guns, they are trying to educate parents and others about gun safety,” she said.

Basically, the organization wants everyone “to be smart and secure all guns in your home and car,” she said.

When children visit other homes, Perry recommended, parents can inquire if they have guns and if those guns are safely locked and out of reach of youth. Children are inquisitive, and parents should ask, “are the guns locked up. It is important to ask. “

A lot of people don’t realize or understand to leave guns alone, Perry said.

Perry stressed, children should not be able to find guns laying around. Having the guns put away or locked could have helped prevent accidental shootings and teen suicides, she said.

Lock away the guns, said Perry, questioning which is more important, the child or the gun.

The BeSMART volunteers, along with Southeast Missouri Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, also stress mental health as a priority way to educate parents and the community about gun safety.

Gun violence also affects the lives of the children who witness it, know someone who was shot or live in fear of the next shooting.

Perry explained her organization is trying to be smart and look at ways to help.

BeSMART members are made up of moms, grandmothers, aunts, etc.

She stressed the organizations don’t want “to take anyone’s gun,” they want owners to be safe and responsible. They are looking for ways to inspire people to be safe.

The memorial draws attention to the 46 Missouri children and teens who died by firearm deaths, including homicides, suicides and unintentional shootings in 2020.

When the display leaves Poplar Bluff at the endlast of August it will travel to Springfield. It has been all over St. Louis, St. Charles and Cape Girardeau.