LEWISBURG – The Central Susquehanna Valley Chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America is reminding parents of the need to protect children from gaining access to weapons…This comes after an 11-year-old Midd-West Middle School student brought a gun and ammunition to school recently.
Mary Markle of Selinsgrove is a volunteer and a BeSMART leader. She their focus for 2022 is their Be SMART campaign, which speaks to exactly the type of incident that happened at Midd-West.
“We can tell them, we can teach them, we can threaten them, but you’re gonna have a curious 11-year-old. You’re gonna have a curious five-year-old. So the onus is really on adults to really secure their firearms so that even the most adventurous, mischievous child cannot get a hold of the weapon,” she said.
Markle says the campaign involves a 20-minute presentation to parents on how they can best prevent children’s access to guns and weapons in their home. Markle says the SMART acronym stands from Secure weapons properly, Model responsible behavior.
“Ask is the one we’ve talked about a lot. It’s probably the biggest takeaway for especially young parents. If your child is going to someone else’s home, it’s being comfortable and normalizing the conversation about guns in their home. The ‘R’ we talk a lot about recognizing the risk of suicide and ‘T’ is for tell, which speaks to sharing the message of Be SMART.”
The Midd-West student who brought the gun and ammunition to school is facing felony charges and was being processed through Snyder County Juvenile Court.
You can hear more of the moms groups’ message on the WKOK.com Podcast Page, of wherever you listen to podcasts.
