Secure gun storage is part of the PC(USA)’s ‘Decade to End Gun Violence’

Editor’s note: This story contains statistics about gun deaths, including suicide.

LOUISVILLE — On Thursday, Temple Hiatt, a member of First Presbyterian Church in Iowa City, Iowa, offered an informative webinar on safe gun storage. Dr. Andrew Peterson, Representative for Peacemaking in the Office of Public Witness, hosted the webinar as part of a partnership with Be SMART, a campaign launched a decade ago to promote responsible gun ownership in order to reduce child gun deaths.

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The 225^th General Assembly (2022) approved the 10-year campaign called “The Decade to End Gun Violence.” Peterson pointed workshop participants to this gun violence prevention page before introducing Hiatt, who’s been a Be SMART volunteer for seven years and is a member of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship’s Gun Violence Prevention Working Group. Hiatt, who works as a financial advisor, is a veteran who served with military police during the Gulf War. “In my free time,” she said, “I educate community members about the importance of secure gun storage. We all want kids to grow up happy and healthy.”

In 2023, firearms were the leading cause of death for children, with Black children dying at rates five times higher than their white counterparts. “This is an emotional issue. Many of you are parents, and some of you may be gun owners. Some of you may have been impacted by gun violence,” Hiatt said. “We believe most gun owners want to be responsible gun owners.”

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Between 2014 and 2023, the rate of gun deaths in Iowa was up 42%, while the rate increased 34% nationwide. Iowa’s suicides and homicides are both increasing at higher rates than the national rate, Hiatt said. Iowa has the 31^st highest rate of gun suicide in the nation; more statistics from states around the country can be found here.

The “SMART” acronym in the Be SMART program helps people remember five things:

• Secure guns in homes and vehicles. “Hiding a gun is not securing a gun,” Hiatt said, displaying photos of secure gun storage options many gun owners use in their homes. More than half of stolen guns are taken from cars, she noted.
• Model responsible behavior. “You can’t rely on curious kids not to find a gun,” she said. One survey reported nearly 1 in 4 parents did now know their child had handled a gun in their house. “Talk to kids about gun safety,” Hiatt said, calling that conversation “a precaution, not a guarantee. Smart adults make sure kids don’t have the opportunity to access guns.”
• Ask about unsecured guns in other homes. In the United States, 4.6 million children live in a household with at least one loaded, unlocked gun. Asking about the presence of guns at your child’s friends’ houses can be “normalized” via a text or email, Hiatt said. “Ask the gun owners if they keep their guns secure,” she said. “The more you ask, the easier it becomes.”
• Recognize the role of guns in suicide. “As children get older, you may consider looking at your storage methods,” she said. “If your loved one is in distress, consider removing the gun from the home.” Half of suicides are gun suicides, Hiatt said, and local law enforcement or a shooting range may be willing to temporarily store your guns.
• Tell everyone you know to be SMART. “How will you commit to be SMART today?” she asked webinar participants, who are now considered Be SMART trained by having attended the webinar. “Reach out to Be SMART if you want to take this to other congregations in your community or engage others,” she told the attendees. “Most people really like having this content. It empowers them to have discussion around a safety angle.” Others “we just aren’t ever going to meet, and that’s unfortunate. I’ve had some of those conversations in churches,” she said. “It shouldn’t be a difficult conversation, but there’s still that distance.”