Nine Ways You Can Share the Be SMART Framework in Your Community

Every year, nearly 360 children under the age of 18 gain access to a firearm and unintentionally shoot themselves or someone else. That’s roughly one unintentional shooting per day. That’s why Be SMART was launched in 2015: Whether you’re a gun owner or you know someone who is, there is a role for every adult to play in keeping children and communities safe.

Become a Be SMART Volunteer

We are grateful for all the Be SMART volunteers, community partners, and advocates in every state and D.C. who spread the word about the importance of secure gun storage. In recognition of the efforts of those who represent and share the tenets of Be SMART throughout their work, we awarded nine individuals with our inaugural Be SMART Visionary designation.

Be SMART Visionaries exemplify the very best of what the program stands for. They have used their voices and platforms to share the Be SMART message in impactful ways. And they have also reached new members of their communities, developed innovative approaches to education and outreach, and embedded Be SMART as a foundational value where they live and lead.

We know Be SMART is made possible by the many people who go above and beyond in representing and upholding the program’s values in secure storage education, while also inspiring others to model responsible gun ownership. We can’t name every advocate who is helping to prevent tragedies due to unsecured firearms. But we can say with 100 percent confidence that every person’s work is making a difference.

In honor of the work of our nine visionaries and the many others who are spreading the word about responsible gun ownership and secure gun storage, we are sharing a list of nine ways anyone can help ensure that secure gun storage practices become the norm in our communities. Because children deserve to feel safe, no matter where they are.

1. Learn about the Be SMART framework

Visionary Model: Dr. Edward M. Barksdale, Jr., M.D., FACS, FAAP—Chief Surgical Officer, Chicagoland Children’s Health Alliance; Professor of Surgery at the University of Chicago (Illinois)

Dr. Edward M. Barksdale, Jr., embodies Be SMART’s values, making secure storage, informed dialogue, and responsible gun ownership a standard of care and a moral imperative. He has upheld the core tenets of the Be SMART program through his sustained, multidimensional work as a pediatric surgeon, public health leader, and community advocate. He has worked with families across urban, suburban, and rural communities across Northeast Ohio to educate them about the dangers of unsecured firearms in homes with children. He stresses the non-political, public health–centered message of secure storage: That guns should be stored locked, unloaded, and stored separately from ammunition. He has also championed data-driven approaches to address firearm-related suicides in youth. Dr. Barksdale trains medical students, physician residents, and colleagues to Be SMART in their own practices. In doing so, he multiplies the reach of Be SMART’s message.

Put it into practice: Review our Be SMART framework to learn how five simple steps can help prevent shootings by children.

2. Encourage others to Be SMART

Visionary Model: Christine Schloesser, M.D.—Family Medicine Physician (Michigan)

Like Dr. Barksdale, Dr. Schloesser has been a true innovator in bridging the healthcare and gun violence prevention communities. She identified the opportunity to integrate Be SMART materials into clinical settings, advocated for institutional support, and helped standardize the distribution of gun locks and Be SMART messaging across a major regional health system in Michigan.

This model of delivering secure storage resources in a nonjudgmental, healthcare-based context is a practical and scalable approach that could serve as a blueprint for other healthcare systems nationwide. She has also included Be SMART materials at Gun Violence Prevention Day hospital tabling events—another example of her creativity and strategic thinking in reaching families to encourage them to Be SMART.

Put it into practice: You don’t have to be a medical professional or work at a large organization to prevent unintentional gun deaths or injuries. Just one conversation can make a difference! Use our resources to learn more about how to start talking about secure gun storage with your children, friends, or community members.

3. Partner with others to share the Be SMART framework

Visionary Model: Brenda Goss Andrews—Detroit Police Deputy Chief (Ret.) (Michigan)

Through her work, Brenda Goss Andrews has consistently gone above and beyond in representing and upholding the values of secure gun storage education, while also inspiring others to model responsible gun ownership. Goss Andrews is the retired Detroit Police Deputy Chief and the former president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement (NOBLE). She is also a volunteer with Moms Demand Action.

While she was the president of NOBLE, Goss Andrews started the “It Starts at Home” secure gun storage initiative, bringing NOBLE and Be SMART together to reach new audiences with the message of preventing child deaths and injuries.

Put it into practice: When leaders across communities come together to create a safer environment for young children and teens, the entire community stands to benefit. Review our list of national, state, and local Be SMART partners to see if anyone in your community is already sharing about the importance of secure gun storage. Don’t see someone near you? Consider reaching out to your local library or school district to share our resources with them.

4. Ask your local doctor’s office or medical clinic to share Be SMART materials

Visionary Model: Kristen Beckworth, MPH, CHES, CPST-I—Manager, Center for Childhood Injury Prevention at Texas Children’s Hospital (Texas)

Kristen Beckworth dedicates her life to saving children by preventing unintentional injuries. She recognizes the threat of unsecured guns in homes and vehicles and helps to share the Be SMART message in every way she can in the community and with leadership in her large hospital network. She is a kind, encouraging resource to the hospital network’s volunteers and is a welcoming presence everywhere she goes.

Thanks to Beckworth’s efforts, discharge forms provided to patients after appointments at Texas Children’s Pediatric Clinics even include a line referring to secure gun storage and a link to the Be SMART website.

Put it into practice: Ask your local doctor’s office, medical clinic, or hospital to display Be SMART materials in their lobby, waiting room, or clinic rooms. Our resources page has examples of posters or handouts they can share with patients.

5. Volunteer with Be SMART to spread the word about secure gun storage

Visionary Model: Amy Hernandez, M.D.—Physician (Texas)

Dr. Amy Hernandez is a Be SMART volunteer and physician in Wimberley, Texas. She has challenged herself and her colleagues to have meaningful discussions with their patients and families about secure firearm storage, rather than treating it as one of many routine questions that get checked off during patient visits without real engagement. She also advocated for posting Be SMART signage in all patient rooms and clinic waiting rooms at several medical clinics in her area.

Put it into practice: Join us! Become a Be SMART volunteer, or RSVP for one of our training calls to learn more about how the program works.

6. Spread the Be SMART message in your school community

Visionary Model: Allison Spillman, Albermarle County School Board, At-Large (Virginia)

As an at-large candidate for the Albemarle County School Board in 2023, Allison Spillman promised to make Be SMART part of her school community outreach and engagement. Once elected, she did! Shepherding a secure storage resolution to passage was one of her first acts as a school board member. Her efforts led to the school district sending a text message blast to parents with Be SMART information.

Put it into practice: Secure gun storage is a school safety issue. Learn more about how you can spread the Be SMART message in your school community. Our resources even include a step-by-step toolkit to help you encourage your school board to pass a secure storage resolution!

7. Find ways to bring secure storage conversations into any room you’re in 

Visionary Model: Alanna Truss, PhD—Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Be SMART Lead (Tennessee)

Healthcare professionals are all too aware of the dangers that unsecured firearms pose to children and the community. That’s why Dr. Alanna Truss received a grant last year to hold Be SMART lunch and learns in six locations across the state, reaching professionals like teachers, law enforcement, government officials, healthcare workers, faith groups, and mental health professionals.

Dr. Truss was also instrumental in getting the Tennessee Psychological Association (TPA) to author their Policy Statement on Firearm Safety and Violence Prevention in advance of the Tennessee special legislative session that followed months after the shooting at The Covenant School in 2023.

Put it into practice: Lunch and learns aren’t the only way to bring up Be SMART. Watch our SMART Conversations series to see exactly how you can “talk the talk” about secure gun storage.

8. Consider who hasn’t heard the Be SMART message—then figure out how you can help share it more widely

Visionary Model: Mark Pettway—Jefferson County Sheriff (Alabama)

Sheriff Mark Pettway leads by example, inspiring his department and community leaders in Jefferson County to prioritize gun safety education as a fundamental value. He goes above and beyond to protect lives and create a culture of responsibility and awareness around firearms.

Through his public presence, daily work, and community partnerships, Pettway is a vocal advocate for preventing gun-related tragedies in homes and neighborhoods. Through strategic partnerships with local organizations, youth programs, and civic groups, he continuously finds new ways to bring the Be SMART principles to wider and more diverse audiences. He not only supports the distribution of literature and presentations but also encourages the integration of secure storage messaging into broader community safety initiatives.

Put it into practice: Bring a Be SMART presentation to a new location in your community. Schedule one by texting SMART to 644-33.

9. Keep Going

Visionary Model: Donna Schmidt—Dallas Moms Demand Action volunteer (Texas)

Donna started the Dallas Chapter of Moms Demand Action in 2015 and the chapter’s work on Be SMART in 2018. She has worked selflessly and tirelessly since then to sustain Be SMART  in Dallas and share the importance of secure storage. She has even continued to volunteer at Be SMART events when needed despite taking on new state-level responsibilities.

She has spent years fostering relationships with organizations throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area to spread the message of secure storage. She has been thoughtful in her approach to building lasting partnerships with organizations that have a wide reach in the community. Since starting the program in Dallas in 2018, she has remained involved, continuing to table at events and fill in as needed, even for last-minute requests.

Put it into practice: This work can be challenging at times, but it is so worth it. Every conversation about secure gun storage or gun lock distributed at a tabling event has the potential to save lives. If you are already volunteering with Be SMART, thank you for showing up. And if you’re ready to become a volunteer with us, sign up here.

We are so grateful for the ways that these nine visionaries champion the Be SMART message every day in their work, their communities, and their daily lives. And we know that they are only a few of the people who are building partnerships, reaching new people with the life-saving message of secure storage, and advocating to prevent unintentional injuries and deaths from unsecured guns.

Thank you to everyone who supports the Be SMART framework and shares it in their communities. Whether you’re talking with your child, your neighbor, or another parent at back-to-school night, you are making a difference.

Spread the word about secure storage today: Volunteer with Be SMART