By Blake Haas

BLOOMINGTON – District 87 is joining a nationwide campaign to make parents more aware of gun safety inside their homes.

The “be smart, gun safety” campaign received unanimous approval from the school board after a vote at the district’s last meeting.

“This summer, we went through all of our safety protocols and focused on everything we could do to make sure that our schools are safe,” Dr. David Mouser, Superintendent of District 87, said. “(That meant) upgrades of cameras, you know, going through FBI training that we went through with other districts.”

The campaign is designed to help parents and adults normalize conversations about gun safety.

“What we’re doing, our resolution is really just for us to provide awareness. So a letter home to all parents, and then, in addition, we will include that in our registration materials and also in our handbooks that parents will sign off on. And then, we will provide information from the be smart information that is out there as well. (This is designed) to make sure parents are aware of what the laws are.”

According to Bloomington Police, 4.6 million children in the U.S. live in a household with at least one loaded, unlocked gun.

So far this year, B-P-D has seized 61 handguns, two rifles, and three shotguns.

Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].