As kids head back to school, one of the smartest things adults can do to keep kids, classrooms, and communities safe from gun violence is to raise awareness about secure gun storage. August 25–29, 2025, is SMART Week—a time when we work together to spread the word on the critical importance of secure gun storage to prevent gun violence.
Whether you own a gun or not, SMART Week is for everyone. It’s about giving our followers, friends, and neighbors simple, clear steps they can take right now to help prevent gun violence:
- Secure all guns in homes and vehicles
- Model responsible behavior around guns
- Ask about the presence of unsecured firearms in other homes your child visits
- Recognize the role of guns in suicide
Locking up guns will help to reduce the risk of firearm suicide, unintentional firearm injury and also help to prevent firearm theft. Want to learn more? Diocesan volunteers are ready to give a 20 minute Be SMART presentation to your church, Adult Formation, Children’s Formation parents, or any other group. A communications toolkit is ready for your use, full of social media and bulletin graphics, articles for your newsletter, handouts, and directions for how to share the message of Be SMART with your congregation. Contact Tara Bennett at peaceandjustice@diowestmo.org for more information, or visit the Peace & Justice Committee page on the Diocesan website
