Last April, a monumental piece of legislation (HB 1230) was passed in the state of WA, requiring all K-12 school districts to share information about the secure storage of firearms and prescription drugs on their websites and digital communications to families. The National PTA has voiced their support in working with organizations like the Be SMART campaign  to raise awareness about safe firearm storage as outlined in this PTA Resolution. They have committed themselves to the spreading awareness that secure storage is an adult responsibility and is essential to preventing unauthorized, unsupervised access to firearms by children.  

The Be SMART campaign is a non-profit, public education program that was created to increase awareness on how secure gun storage—storing guns locked, unloaded, and separate from ammunition—can save the lives of children. This campaign educates parents, caretakers, gun owners and non-gun owners alike, on how they can ‘Be SMART’ by taking these simple steps:

Secure all guns in homes and vehicles

Model responsible behavior 

Ask about firearms in other homes your child visits 

Recognize the role of guns in suicide 

Tell your peers to Be SMART

Provide educational resources regarding safe gun storage to prevent child gun deaths and injuries on your school PTSA webpages. This can include links to resources like the Be SMART campaign, the King County Public Health Department’s Lock it Up Program, and/or statistics about gun violence in Washington.

If you would like to see a video of this presentation, it is available HERE.