The Kane County Sheriff’s Office, Be SMART and the Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva will host presentations next month offering tips about safe gun storage.

The free session runs 7 to 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 12 at the church, 102 S. Second St., Geneva, according to a news release.

Two presentations will be offered simultaneously, one for adults and another for youth from kindergarten through 12th grade.

Gun owners and non-gun owners are encouraged to attend as it is important to ask about the presence and storage of firearms in homes that children and teens visit, the release stated.

“This is all about pro-safety and being responsible gun owners and parents,” Steve McHugh said in the release.

McHugh is co-lead of Illinois Be SMART, a nonprofit that promotes gun safety through secure storage.

“Look no further than the fact that firearms are the leading cause of death for children in the U.S., and suicide by firearm has risen more among 10- 19- year-olds than any other age group,” McHugh said.

According to the National Institutes of Health, suicide is the leading cause of death in that age group. Firearms were used in nearly half, 48%, among 15-year-olds to 19-year-olds and in 38% of those, aged 10 to 14, who die by suicide.

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health reported that guns were involved in 46,728 deaths in the U.S. in 2023, one every 11 minutes.

The Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions and The Center for Suicide Prevention prepared a report, “Gun Violence in the United States 2023: Examining the Gun Suicide Epidemic,” which found that 58% of all gun deaths, 27,300, were suicides.

Be SMART will present ways adults can model responsible behavior and ask about unsecured guns in homes their kids visit, the release stated.

It also will cover details of the new Illinois Secure Storage Law, which will require gun owners to secure firearms from minors beginning Jan. 1.

The presentation for adults will highlight the importance of securely storing guns, as over 200,000 firearms are stolen annually in the U.S., with most of those being from vehicles.

Kane County sheriff’s Sgt. James Thrun and Deputy Eric Gustafson will meet with children and youth to teach and discuss gun and other safety measures.

“The element we can control is preparedness through firearms safety and education, for both firearms owners, and their families alike,” Thrun stated in the release.

Be SMART is a program developed by Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund to bring together parents and adults concerned about children, guns and safety.

More information is available online at BeSMARTforKids.org.