Utah has new firearm safety campaign for kids and teens
Aug 29, 2019, 2:59 PM | Updated: 5:08 pm
Sam Gonzalez at a press conference introducing LETS Stay Safe. Photo courtesy, Mary Richards.
SALT LAKE CITY — There’s a new firearm safety campaign for parents and schools to use in Utah. It’s called Lets Stay Safe.
The Utah Attorney General’s Office unveiled the LETS Stay Safe campaign on Thursday with some help from 10-year old Sam Gonzalez. The AGs office chose Sam because he has a frightening yet educational story to tell.
On a school day last year, Sam says he and his friends saw something dark in the snow.
“I saw the handle and knew it was a gun,” said the 10-year old.
Sam says he knew not to touch the gun, and that his friends should not touch it. Then, he told his bus driver.
“I learned about it in Scouts,” said Sam. “Guns can hurt you.”
The Utah Attorney General’s Office says Sam did the right thing by getting help. And they want to make sure more people are aware of what to do should they find a gun.
Their new campaign includes a 5-minute video. It outlines different scenarios that could happen, in Utah or anywhere. One of the scenarios shows a person that finds a hunting rifle in a garage. Another shows a friend asking if a child wants to see his dad’s gun. Still another outlines what a young person should do if they hear that someone has brought a gun to school.
The Utah Attorney General’s office reports that the SafeUT app prevented 245 instances of violence during the last school year.
