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Teach Your Children Well: Schools Step Up to Offer Firearm Safety and Education Programs

Monday, April 7, 2025

Teach Your Children Well: Schools Step Up to Offer Firearm Safety and Education Programs

Providing firearm safety training opportunities to school-aged children is not a novel concept, although utilizing legislative solutions is a newer approach to this old idea. Prior to the 1970s, it was quite standard nationwide for schools to provide variations of firearm or hunter-related safety courses as part of their curriculums. Unfortunately, a trend emerged of polarizing politics over educational merit, and most formalized firearm safety educational opportunities for our nation’s youth had been extinguished in schools by the early 2000s.  

As legislative sessions hit their crossover marks and begin to wind down in many states, it has been refreshing to see renewed trends and traction in legislative efforts to help reintroduce the concept of youth firearm safety in schools to address this critical knowledge gap.  This year alone, there have been various renditions of bills introduced among the states ranging from mandatory to optional training with varied and scalable models utilizing firearm and hunter safety components. A few states to note:

Georgia’s HB 451 would allow public schools to offer hunter safety education courses in grades six through twelve. With strong bi-partisan support, this bill requires that the state Board of Education develop content standards for instruction in hunting safety no later than April 1, 2026.

In Kansas, HB 2104 aims to standardize firearm safety education programs in school districts, with the goal of promoting student safety and teaching appropriate responses when encountering firearms. The state board of education would be directed to establish curriculum guidelines that vary by grade level with the option to use NRA’s Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program for kindergarten through fifth grade, with additional options to use other established programs for later grades. When a school district chooses to offer firearm safety education, it must follow state-established guidelines and ensure all students have an opportunity to take the course.

Michigan HB 4285 would mandate the development and availability of a model firearm safety instruction program for students in grades six through twelve with topics covered to include proper firearm usage, safe handling, different types of firearms, and safe hunting practices. 

In Utah, Governor Cox signed a bill that would make gun safety lessons mandatory for students. While Utah does have a statute in place allowing firearm safety to be taught in schools, this change makes it a required offering. Also, last month Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders signed Act 229 into law, which requires public and open enrollment public charter schools to provide age-appropriate firearm safety instruction beginning during the 2025-2026 school year.

The aim of these laws is to educate and protect children, clear and simple. Demonizing the ever-increasing community of lawful and safe gun owners by way of caricature in media does not help keep children safe. The very best defense against the weakening of our Second Amendment rights is instilling the next generation with the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary in a culture where firearms are a normal and accepted part of life. These legislative efforts to bring back firearm safety education to schools are an important downpayment not just on safety but on restoring and reaffirming America’s traditional values in education.

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North Carolina: Update on Permitless Carry

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

North Carolina: Update on Permitless Carry

Last week the North Carolina General Assembly briefly returned from recess and re-referred Senate Bill 50, Freedom to Carry NC, to the House Rules Committee.

Federal Court Strikes Down Biden Administration’s “Engaged in the Business” Rule in NRA Case

Thursday, October 2, 2025

Federal Court Strikes Down Biden Administration’s “Engaged in the Business” Rule in NRA Case

Yesterday, in Butler v. Bondi, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama held that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives exceeded its statutory authority by issuing its 2024 Final Rule expanding ...

First Affirmative Lawsuit in Support of Gun Owners Filed by Trump’s DOJ

News  

Monday, October 6, 2025

First Affirmative Lawsuit in Support of Gun Owners Filed by Trump’s DOJ

California officials’ egregious foot-dragging over the issuance of carry permits has finally attracted the ire of the federal Department of Justice (DOJ). 

President Trump’s GOP Leads Polling on Crime and Guns, To No Surprise

News  

Monday, October 6, 2025

President Trump’s GOP Leads Polling on Crime and Guns, To No Surprise

A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll revealed that Americans know the President Donald Trump-led Republican Party has a better plan than their Democratic Party opponents on crime and gun control.

NRA Files Amicus Brief in Fifth Circuit Case Challenging the Federal Switchblade Act

Friday, October 3, 2025

NRA Files Amicus Brief in Fifth Circuit Case Challenging the Federal Switchblade Act

Yesterday, the National Rifle Association filed an amicus brief in Knife Rights, Inc. v. Bondi, urging the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas’s decision upholding the Federal ...

Trump Administration Repeals Biden Era Firearms Export Crackdown

News  

Monday, October 6, 2025

Trump Administration Repeals Biden Era Firearms Export Crackdown

Last Monday, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) at the U.S. Department of Commerce published a final rule that reversed a crackdown on the commercial export of firearms from the U.S. to other countries.

Trust in Mass Media Craters to New Lows, in Single Digits With Republicans

News  

Monday, October 6, 2025

Trust in Mass Media Craters to New Lows, in Single Digits With Republicans

There’s an old saying that rings especially true to Second Amendment supporters: If you don’t read the news, you’re uninformed.

Alphabet Eases the Reins on Censorship; Will Gun Content Eventually Benefit?

News  

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

Alphabet Eases the Reins on Censorship; Will Gun Content Eventually Benefit?

With the free speech debate recently co-opted by one TV host’s use of false and incendiary remarks about his political opponents, it might have been easy to miss another important First Amendment story last week. 

Canada’s Public Safety Minister on Gun Ban & Confiscation: “Don’t Ask Me to Explain the Logic”

News  

Monday, September 29, 2025

Canada’s Public Safety Minister on Gun Ban & Confiscation: “Don’t Ask Me to Explain the Logic”

There have been multiple developments on the Canadian gun grab and ban in the last few days, but the most astounding has got to be a leaked bombshell recording of the Liberal Public Safety Minister, ...

U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Challenge to Hawaii’s Private Property Default Carry Ban

Friday, October 3, 2025

U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Challenge to Hawaii’s Private Property Default Carry Ban

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the petition for certiorari in Wolford v. Lopez, a challenge to Hawaii’s law forbidding carry on private property open to the public (such as restaurants, gas stations, and grocery stores) ...

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NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.