Nearly two dozen government and law enforcement officials from Union County met Thursday, March 3, at Fanwood’s Forest Road Park to hear from the New Jersey chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America on how a gun safety campaign the group advocates, Be SMART, can work in their towns.
“Our ultimate goal is to bring the Be SMART program to local groups all over New Jersey and help prevent the tragedies we read about so often,” said Arlene Vezza, the New Jersey Be SMART Lead,
The group’s Be SMART for Kids campaign promotes responsible gun storage and teaches adults to take simple steps to reduce the chances of unsupervised children having access to firearms and causing harm. The five steps the campaign promotes include:
• Securing guns in homes and vehicles,
• Modelling responsible behavior around guns,
• Awareness of unsecured guns in homes their children may visit,
• Recognizing the risks of teen suicide and
• Telling others about gun safety.
In December, the group held a rally in Fanwood, drawing 250 people from all over the state, marking the third anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shootings and to honor survivors and victims of gun violence. It was the largest event of its type in New Jersey tied to the Sandy Hook tragedy.
Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America is a non-partisan grassroots movement associated with Everytown for Gun Safety, demanding common-sense solutions to address the country’s dangerous culture of gun violence, which jeopardizes the safety of children and families. The group supports the 2nd Amendment but seeks to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.
