Be SMART Week 2026 | Press Conference

Morning, good morning everyone. Oh, that's what I like. Y'all sound so happy to be here on this lovely morning, Monday morning at that. So, I am Crystal Holmes Gay. I am the interim director for the city of Columbia's office of neighborhood safety and engagement, and I'm so so happy you guys are all here today to be here for this amazing event and kickoff for Smart Week. >> [applause] >> This is our third annual press conference, well, third annual Yeah, third annual press conference that we have partnered with Be Smart, and we are so excited to see you all here once again. And without further ado, I would like to introduce our assistant city manager Henry Simons to come up and do our welcome for the city. Give him >> [applause] >> Good morning. Good morning, everybody. Come on. Good morning, everyone. Good good to see everybody this morning. Again, my name is Henry Simons. I am the assistant city manager of operations for the city of Columbia. Delighted to see everyone present on today. It is It is my pleasure to welcome you and thank you for being here with us to celebrate as Ms. Holmes Gay stated, Be Smart Week. We are delighted to have you with us to bring awareness to an issue that is important to the safety and well-being of our children, families, as well as communities. I would like to extend a course of appreciation in in his absence, Mayor Rickenmann. All of our council members, I see Councilman McDowell is he's here. Come on, let's acknowledge Councilman McDowell who is today >> [applause] >> Also want to acknowledge our city manager in her absence, uh Teresa Wilson. Thank you for her continued commitment uh to making this city uh safer and stronger as a community. Uh we're honored to have several distinguished guests with us today. Um if I miss your name, I want to acknowledge everybody in the room with a title. If I miss your name, don't uh don't don't don't um don't stones at me. Um but I want to do my best to acknowledge who we have in the room today. Uh I see we have Councilwoman Tyra Little with us today. Thank you so much for being here. >> [applause] >> Uh we have uh superintendent from Richland School District One, Mr. Doctor, excuse me, Todd Walker with us today. Thank you, Mr. Walker, for being here. Of course, we have uh Chief Holbrook from the city of Columbia with us today. >> [applause] >> Thank you, sir. Uh we have Deputy Chief Marwan Kelly with us today, sir. Thank you so much for being here. Uh of course, we have Sheriff Lot, uh who's in the back there. Thank you being here, Sheriff Lot. >> [applause] >> I want to acknowledge you on today. We have Sheriff Ravenel that's with us from Orangeburg. Thank you so much, sir, for for being here. And all of our distinguished guests, if I missed anyone, I apologize to you. But just just for a moment, Be Smart Week builds. Yes, sir. Richland Two, I'm sorry. He's here. Thank you so much. Thank you, Chief Holbrook. >> [applause] >> Thank you so much. Um so, Be Smart Week builds upon the Be Smart public education initiative, uh which promotes responsible and secure firearms storage to help prevent children and unauthorized individuals from accessing firearms. Uh as our children return to classrooms and families settle back into their routines, this message right now is really really timely. And today is about bringing awareness, responsibility, partnership, and most importantly protecting our children in all of our communities across our city and county. So, thank you again uh for being here. Uh thank you for your commitment on a Monday morning at 10:00 a.m. We appreciate your presence on today. And of course we hope that all this information that's shared on today is just not in a bin. It is an opportunity for us to give back to the community and create some sustainability and bring about change in our community. I also want to recognize that she's uh doing video and photos, uh Ms. Judy Gaston's here uh as well. >> [applause] >> Thank you Judy for being here. Uh we're grateful for your presence and your commitment to helping to make our communities safer. We also have Cassie here with Serve & Connect. I'm just acknowledging people as I as I go along. Um so, thank you all so much for being here. We appreciate your presence and look forward to the rest of the program. Thank you so much. >> [applause] >> Well, I feel like I need to get some autographs in here at this point. >> [laughter] >> Okay, so moving right along, we are going to call up our Be Smart volunteers and we're going to have our Richland County Councilwoman Tyra Little to come up to um do the proclamation and our welcome from them. Good morning. >> Good morning. >> So, in the church they would say protocol has already been set. But one of the things that I want to say, um Be Smart, this is very near and dear to my heart as some of you all I know, I've had two sons lost to gun violence. And so, this is something that's crucial, it's critical, this is definitely very timely at this time. Um I would also like to say welcome from the district mighty district of district 3 from Richland County. I want to welcome you to Richland County for this. And then I would also like to present Be Smart with a proclamation from the county. Now, I know it's going to look like I'm an Indian giver because I'm going to present this to them and then I'm going to take it back because on tomorrow night we're going to vote on it and ratify it and it will become a resolution. So, if you ladies would join me here, I want to congratulate you on the hard work. And as you all know, I am a sister in this walk with you all as every town survivor. So, I don't know where we want to get here so we can um Who is Roberta? This is Roberta. Thank you. >> As part of the state Be Smart team, I thank Governor McMaster for doing the proclamation of Smart Week uh for the state of South Carolina. Thank you so much, Governor. >> [applause] >> Fired up and ready to go. >> Here we are. >> [laughter] >> Got to be quick on your feet all the time. You got to be quick on your feet. Okay. Um so, we're going to have some um community partner remarks. Um so, we're going to start with Dr. Camille Graham. Is she in Oh, there we go. Give her a round of applause. >> [applause] >> Good morning. I'm Camille Graham. I'm a vascular surgeon at Prisma Health where I've had the privilege to serve the community for the last few years. Um Prisma Health is ser- gets to serve the Midlands as the regional adult and pediatric trauma center. And in that role, we treat patients with gunshot wounds nearly every day. And as a surgeon, I see the devastation, the disability, and the loss that comes with this kind of violence. In 2025, there were 315 patients with gunshot wounds that we treated at Prisma. 46 of those patients were children. And 37 of the 315 patients that made it to our trauma center died. Similarly, in 2026, we've so far treated 195 patients with gunshot wounds. These numbers are far too high. So, how do we prevent these losses? By working to promote firearm safety and secure storage. And to that end, Prisma Health has partnered with Be SMART since 2019. And we've coordinated with other hospitals in the Midlands region, including MUSC and Lexington, to provide educational materials and gun locks to be distributed throughout the community by volunteers, law enforcement, schools, and our health care partners. We've also partnered with the Department of Public Health and law enforcement agencies to implement the Cardiff model to overlap law enforcement and hospital data to characterize a pattern of gun of gun violence. Our injury prevention program team members attend community events and work with local ambulatory practices provide firearm storage education, counseling, and free gun locks and lock boxes thanks to grant funding from the South Carolina Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control. Prisma Health is uniquely committed to keeping our community safe and preventing tragedies and increasing awareness by promoting firearm safety and proper storage. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak with you about what I get to see and take care of and I look forward to working with all of you um to make our community safer. Thank you. >> [applause] >> So, I apologize. I forgot to um introduce the amazing Ms. Tori Wilson from Be Smart. She's one of the volunteers and she's going to go through our um community uh remarks. >> [applause] >> So, on behalf of the Midlands Be Smart volunteers, we would like to express our gratitude to the city of Columbia, Mayor Rickenmann, the city of Columbia Council, the city of Columbia Police Department Chief Holbrook, and Crystal Holmes Gay, the interim director of neighborhood safety and engagement for making this press conference possible and for truly recognizing the importance of this cause. We would also like to acknowledge all elected officials here with us today including Richland County Councilwoman Little, Richland County Sheriff Sheriff Lott, and Orangeburg County Sheriff Ravenel. If there are any other elected officials with us today, please stand so we can acknowledge you. We are pleased to share that August 24th through the 28th, 2026 marks the third annual National Smart Week. Smart Week builds on the foundation of the Be Smart educational program to ensure that at that secure gun storage practices become the norm in our communities, especially now as kids are returning to school. I want to just share just a few statistics to emphasize the importance of secure storage of guns. Guns are now the leading cause of death for children and teens in America, including South Carolina. Nearly 7 million children in the US lived in households with at least one loaded unlocked firearm. Nearly 1/3 of gun deaths among children and teens under 18 are suicides. And nearly 80% of these deaths involve a gun belonging to a family member. In the past year, there have been at least 10 unintentional shootings by children in South Carolina resulting in a total of two deaths and nine injuries, as well as at least five incidents of gunfire on school grounds in the past year. On average, at least one gun is stolen from a car every 9 minutes in the US. And these stolen guns are often used in other crimes in the community. In 2021, a group of Midland school districts, law enforcement agencies, hospital systems partnered with Be SMART to form a task force to help reduce gun violence in our schools and communities. Be SMART is an educational program that promotes secure gun storage as a means to prevent children, teens, and and other unauthorized users from accessing guns. We want to thank our Midlands Be SMART partners for their role in the helping to spread this important message. Over the past 5 years, these Midland partners are 10 school districts, including Richland One, Richland Two, Lexington One, Lexington Three, Lexington Four, Lexington Rich Five, Orangeburg, Sumter, Fairfield, and Calhoun. 18 law enforcement agencies, MUSC and Prisma Health, to whom we extremely are indebted for providing funds for all the Be SMART materials. With their support, we have distributed tens of thousands of Be SMART printed materials, Be SMART posters to our partner schools, about 40,000 Be SMART refrigerator magnets, and nearly 10,000 gun locks. Last but not least, we truly appreciate all of our Be SMART volunteers who are on the ground spreading the message about gun safety and proper gun storage. We cannot achieve our mission without your dedication and support. In my own story of survival, the weapon was stolen and used to kill another. June 6th, 2023 is the day I was moved to action with Be Smart. As an educator in South Carolina for 17 years, I am the teacher of the year for my school, rafting Creek Elementary in Sumter School District. We'll say go lions. Um, I believe that if we make home safer, then we will have safer schools and communities and we can educate our children and youth better. Whether you own a gun or not, Smart Week is for everyone. It's all about giving our friends and neighbors simple, clear steps that can that they can take now to help prevent gun violence. Secure all guns in homes and vehicles. Model responsible behavior around guns. Ask your ask about the presence of unsecured firearms in all homes and vehicles that your child may be visiting and riding in. Recognize the role of guns in suicide and tell your peers to be smart. We know that change happens every day through meaningful conversation with friends, families, and neighbors and community leaders. During Smart Week, let's help normalize the conversation about secure firearm storage and spread the Be Smart message throughout our community to help save lives. We would like to thank our many partners who will be who will be posting on social media, hosting gun storage giveaways, and issuing government proclamations during Smart Week. We would also like to thank our community partners who have worked alongside of us to reduce gun violence. Today, we would like to feature the cooperation that is happening in Orangeburg County and many as here will will speaking about their important work. If you would like to reach us to learn more about Be Smart or to join our efforts, please contact us at millinesbismart@gmail.com. We also invite you to attend our next Be Smart volunteer training at 2:30 p.m. on September 27th at the main library branch of Richmond County Library. And thank you so much for your support. >> [applause] >> Hello. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to speak today. My name is Marty Brown, and I'm a parent, an educator, a Navy daughter, and a Navy wife. I'm also someone whose life has been irrevocably changed due to gun violence. My dad served in the military for 25 years, later worked as a civilian contractor on an Army base, and was a lifelong NRA member. Guns were just a normal part of our lives. Some of my earliest memories are of target practicing in the backyard with my dad. But my dad's relationship with guns is complicated. Even though he'd already lost two military friends to suicide by gun, he never locked his guns up. He just kept them in the back of a cabinet or stored on high shelves. And while my dad prided himself on teaching me how to handle a firearm safely, he sometimes forgot to follow his own instructions. I can remember one instance when he forgot to check that a gun was unloaded before handling it, and it went off. That day could have ended in tragedy because there were three children, including myself, all crowded around the new gun asking to be allowed to hold it. And my infant sister was sleeping in a nearby room. Miraculously, none of us were hit by the stray bullet. However, not all families are as lucky, including my own extended family. In January 2014, our cousin our cousin's son Alex had a bad day. He'd had an argument with his dad, and things just weren't going his way. Like my dad, Alex's father didn't feel the need to lock up his gun because he taught Alex how to handle it safely. But that day, when he was so tired and feeling upset, Alex got his dad's gun, and he shot himself in the head. He was 10 years old. My son was eight at the time, and Alex was his friend and his favorite cousin. It's hard to explain to an 8-year-old that their cousin, their playmate, is gone and never coming back. My son decided then and there that he would become a scientist so that he could build a time machine to go back to save Alex from using the gun. Obviously, it's too late to save our cousin's son, but it is not too late to prevent this tragedy from happening to other families. And that's why I appreciate everything that the Be Smart organization has done to get the message out about storing guns safely. Just the simple act of securing a firearm can save a child's life. It is up to us to make sure that our kids have safe and chat happy childhoods free from gun violence. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Good morning. >> I was good until I drove up here and saw our Sheriff Lara and um >> [laughter] >> Chief Hope both are my my uh heroes. So, I'm always nervous around those guys. But I want to say thank y'all so much for allowing us allowing me to be here this morning. Um I always come with a backup and a partner. This is Courtney, would you come stand by me, please? >> [applause] >> Courtney and I met doing a tragic accident with her uh incident with her son. She lost her 6-year-old son and ever since then um we've been close friends. Courtney called me Officer Sheriff. Um this partnership is so important to me uh especially for us here in Orangeburg County uh just like all everywhere over this country we're experiencing gun violence. Just this past Friday um we did a search warrant in a house that was uh 0.5 mi from my office uh for a drug search warrant and we got a lot of drugs and and made an arrest, but one of the most disturbing things to me that came out of that we had we got um AK-47, two shotguns, uh a Glock pistol, and a lot of ammunition. But what was more disturbing than that was this was right next to the kids' room. Unlocked room. This is something that you know we have our a right to bear arms, but we also have a responsibility to to make sure that these um guns and and uh ammunition everything is safe away from our kids. We have that responsibility and that's the one thing that I kind of take seriously in Orangeburg County like everything else, you know, doing this job for almost 40 years um it's getting it's getting to the point now where without this partnership with with the group like your group we can't make it. If we uh continue to think that we can arrest our way out of um the problem that we're in we're in trouble. We are deeply in trouble. So, always Courtney and Courtney and I was uh we always in contact. I I missed the your son baptism yesterday. Courtney, I'm sorry. I apologize. But um through her her pain and her her sorrow, we have gained a partnership that has kept Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office on the track of making sure that our schools are safe, that our communities are safe, and that we educate our people in Orangeburg County. So, again, for this partnership, thank you all so very much. >> [applause] >> Good morning. It's good to see everyone. I want to give sincere appreciation to the Be Smart staff for this significant contribution to our city, to the region. Certainly, this work is an important work. To all the elected officials in the room, partners in law enforcement and others who are advocates for children, this is a significant moment and in a significant day. Many of you know that last week, both in Richland One and in Richland Two, there were incidents of of firearms in the possession of of children. In the case of Richland One, we had a first-grader with an assault rifle that was loaded. And I can only say that it's due to prayer and divine intervention that we didn't suffer a significant loss of life from that. But, thankfully, we didn't. Sort of interesting when you look at the statistics around firearms and firearm deaths, about 2,000 to 4,000 deaths for children under the age of 18 are caused by firearms every year. I like to suggest and make you aware, if you're not already aware, this isn't an an issue that it just pertains to black children or white children or Hispanic children or Asian children. This pertains to all children. It's a national issue affecting children in in urban areas and suburban areas and in rural areas. Sort of interesting when you look at the statistical breakdown on the way that those firearm deaths play out, about half of the deaths that occur outside of school from firearms are due to suicide. And and the other half are homicide. About half of the deaths that occur outside of school due to firearms, 48% or so impact African-American children and the other 52% are spread amongst white children, Asian children and and Latina Latino children. And so we have in our midst a significant challenge before us and I believe in the right to bear arms. I'm an attorney and so I appreciate our Constitution but as was shared by the sheriff before me, we must do so responsibly. And in a in a responsible way. And so I believe that responsible just means that we have a ability to respond. An ability to ensure that the firearms that we do own lawfully and legally are are protected and procured in such a way that they don't present an undue harm or risk to particularly our most vulnerable amongst us which are our children. In my own family, we've had death by firearm due to suicide not in my immediate family but my extended family so it's an issue that is personal to me as well as has a professional aspect to it. But I would just encourage us to continue to work together. I appreciate partnership of other school districts. Dr. Ken Moore is here from Richland too. We have others represented from other school districts as well and it's going to take all of us working together. Dr. Martin Luther King said that we're all caught up in an inescapable network of of a single garment of destiny. What affects one directly affects all indirectly. So, this is a collective issue. Uh and we need to use not just our IQ, but our EQ, our emotional intelligence, so that we can have CQ, collective intelligence, to solve for our collective issue with collective impact. Thank you and looking forward to the panel discussion. >> [applause] >> Well, we're going to have a special remark from our Chief of Police, Chief Holbrook of the the City of Columbia, come up and give a few words, as well. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Crystal, and um thank you to the speaker, Sheriff Ravenel. Thank you for your remarks. Um I think Sheriff Lott had uh had another engagement, but um uh these partnerships that that we have with our law enforcement partners are are just so critical, and um it it's something that I don't take for granted, and very much appreciate you all. Um thank you to the our Be Smart partners for um um bringing this group together. This is um this is a group of community leaders and volunteers, and I think it represents what's um the very best of our community and the greater Midlands community. Um it brings attention to this this critically important issue of safe gun storage. Um it does touch everybody in one way or another. Um I'll often say we're losing a generation to gun violence and um irresponsible gun ownership and possession, and um we've got to do more. Uh this is a great start. Um we're very honored to participate with Be Smart um for the third year in a row. And what I'm very happy to announce is um on Wednesday, which is the 26th, uh from um 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., we're going to give away helped our Be Smart partners give away these gun lock and gun storage devices. I believe the Sheriff's Department is doing a similar endeavor. And again, it's just an example of us partnering with a great organization to promote safety. So again, thank you for including the police department of the city of Columbia in this important message this week. And I look forward to seeing how many of those gun locks and gun storage boxes we can give away on Wednesday. Thank you. >> [applause] [music]