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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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U.S. Senate Forced to Remove Pro-Gun Language from Reconciliation Bill

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Friday, June 27, 2025

U.S. Senate Forced to Remove Pro-Gun Language from Reconciliation Bill

Today, the U.S. Senate was forced to remove the pro-gun language that had been previously included in the Reconciliation Bill currently making its way through the chamber. We explained in a previous article that this language would, ...

U.S. Senate Adds Pro-Gun Tax Relief Language Back into Reconciliation Bill

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Saturday, June 28, 2025

U.S. Senate Adds Pro-Gun Tax Relief Language Back into Reconciliation Bill

Overnight, the U.S. Senate added pro-gun tax relief language back into the Reconciliation bill after the Senate Parliamentarian struck out an earlier provision.  While this new provision is not as expansive as the language we advocated for which ...

U.S. House Passes Reconciliation Bill, Removing Suppressors from the National Firearms Act

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Second Amendment  

Thursday, May 22, 2025

U.S. House Passes Reconciliation Bill, Removing Suppressors from the National Firearms Act

Earlier today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R.1 the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which included Section 2 of the Hearing Protection Act, completely removing suppressors from the National Firearms Act (NFA).

U.S. Court of Appeals Backtracks on Adverse Suppressor Ruling

News  

Monday, June 23, 2025

U.S. Court of Appeals Backtracks on Adverse Suppressor Ruling

In a single sentence, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit added to the high-profile and consequential national conversation on firearm suppressors.

North Carolina: Update on Gun Bills Moving through the General Assembly

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

North Carolina: Update on Gun Bills Moving through the General Assembly

Recently, House Bill 193 (H193) was reported favorably out of both the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Rules Committee, with amendments.

Ninth Circuit Strikes Down CA’s One-Gun-A-Month Law

Friday, June 20, 2025

Ninth Circuit Strikes Down CA’s One-Gun-A-Month Law

Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that California’s law prohibiting people from buying more than one firearm in a 30-day period violates the Second Amendment.

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Second Amendment  

Friday, June 27, 2025

Joint Statement from Pro-Gun Groups on the Senate Reconciliation Bill

On behalf of millions of NRA members and gun owners, we stand united in calling on Congress to uphold Americans' Second Amendment rights and zero out the NFA's excise tax on suppressors and short-barreled firearms.

Minnesota: Shotgun-Only Hunting Zones Repealed

Friday, June 20, 2025

Minnesota: Shotgun-Only Hunting Zones Repealed

On Monday, June 9th, outside of regular session, the Senate passed the Environment Omnibus bill, removing shotgun-only hunting zones in the state. 

Senate Finance Committee Releases Text of Reconciliation Bill

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Monday, June 16, 2025

Senate Finance Committee Releases Text of Reconciliation Bill

Today, the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance released its portion of the Senate version of the Reconciliation Bill. Late last month, the U.S. House passed a version of the Reconciliation Bill which included Section 2 of the ...

California: Anti-Gun Bills Scheduled for Hearings Next Week

Thursday, June 26, 2025

California: Anti-Gun Bills Scheduled for Hearings Next Week

On Tuesday, July 1st, the Assembly and Senate Public Safety Committees will hold hearings on several anti-gun bills aimed at further restricting the rights of law-abiding Californians. Please use the Take Action button below to contact ...

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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.