Meet the Veteran Modeling Responsible Behavior Around Firearms During SMART Week and Beyond

August 26–30, 2024, marks the first annual SMART Week. This week is a time when we come together to spread the word on the critical importance of secure gun storage to prevent gun violence. 

Each day, we’ll be sharing a blog post expanding on each letter of the “SMART” acronym:

• Secure
• Model
• Ask
• Recognize
• Tell

SMART Week is built on the foundation of the Be SMART public education program. Be SMART promotes secure gun storage as a means to prevent kids under 18 and other unauthorized users from accessing guns.

My name is Shannon Klug, and I am a parent, Air Force Veteran, gun owner, Girl Scout Troop leader, and activist.

My military service is a big part of who I am. I was trusted to carry a firearm on military deployments to Europe and the Middle East.

Training, safety, and accountability were the cornerstones of firearm usage in the Air Force. I have found that lacking in the civilian world. It’s important to me to encourage all gun owners to put those principles into practice as they store and use their own firearms. As a veteran, I strive to model responsible behavior around guns and to normalize positive behaviors that promote safety.

One way that I do so is through my work with Be SMART. I started volunteering in 2018 because, as an Air Force veteran and gun owner, it felt like a natural fit for me in the gun violence prevention multiverse. My military experience with firearms makes it easy to have a conversation about responsible gun ownership in a way that is non-threatening.

One way I do this is by starting with the message at the heart of Be SMART: Firearms are now the leading cause of death among children in the United States. That’s why it’s more important than ever for parents and caregivers to know how secure firearm storage works. It’s simple. To help keep your family safe and prevent tragedies, it’s crucial to secure your firearm. No one has ever challenged me on the need to keep children safe.

As a parent of three, keeping my children safe is a priority in my household by, among other things, modeling responsible behavior around the handgun we own.

In fact, during the height of the pandemic quarantine, the most secure thing for us was to temporarily remove our handgun from our home. At the time, one of our teenagers was having mental health challenges, bouncing between outbursts of anger and periods of depression. To protect them and our family, we thought it best to remove the gun completely from our home. We stored it at “Gramma’s house” in a locked gun box—and we did not give her the key, so she could not access it either.

My mother has also modeled what responsible behavior around firearms looks like. She lives in an “over 55” community, and when her next-door neighbor passed away, my mother expressed concern to me about the mental health of the neighbor’s grieving widower. I asked if he had guns in the house, and my mother responded, “Yes, a lot.” I reminded her that he was in the demographic with the highest rate of firearm suicide—men represent 87 percent of firearm suicide victims, and firearm suicide rates are especially high for men ages 55 and older.

I was very proud of my mother for taking action. She discreetly discussed the situation with her closest neighbors. They came up with a plan to hold onto the widower’s weapons for him, keeping them locked and separate from the ammunition while he worked through his grief. They dealt with the situation compassionately, yet effectively, by modeling these principles of secure storage.

I also get to model responsible behavior around firearms through my work with our local Be SMART program in Charlotte, North Carolina. We were invited by NC MedAssist, a partner organization, to hand out Be SMART materials at a drive-through health event they were hosting. As people drove through, we chatted with them about secure storage through their car windows. If they needed a gun lock, we provided them with a cable lock. The Mecklenburg County Office of Violence Prevention was also working with us and had free lock boxes to give away.

One woman drove through the event and divulged that she had a handgun with her—in her car, at that moment—that was not locked. She admitted that she did not know how to use a cable lock or lock box, but was interested in securing her firearm. She pulled over into the nearby parking lot, and I guided her in how to lock her gun with the cable lock. Then, we put the locked gun in the lock box and secured the box to the seat frame in her car. This way, the box could not be pulled out of the car, and her gun was doubly secured.

I’m proud that we’ve been able to elevate the awareness of gun violence prevention measures in our community. We’ve tabled at community events, worked with pediatrician’s offices, and worked with a local school board to put secure storage information in the Parent-Student Handbook. We’ve also built partnerships with local nonprofits.

When we started our local Be SMART group in 2018, the media rarely reported on gun violence as an epidemic. Now, gun violence prevention is a regular part of the community dialogue at City Council meetings, County Council meetings, school board meetings, in churches, and in the local media.

However, our work is never done. Until everyone in my community learns to keep their guns secured appropriately, I’ll still be out there encouraging people to Be SMART!

You can do that, too. Get involved by clicking this link to become a volunteer or text SMART to 644-33. Then, roll up your sleeves and jump in. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, especially of fellow Be SMART volunteers. The more you talk about secure storage, the easier it gets.

Shannon Klug (she/her) is the Be SMART Lead for North Carolina. Klug is an Air Force Veteran and a member of the Everytown Veteran Advisory Council.