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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. 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).

ATF Invites FFLs Zeroed Out Under Biden-Harris to Reapply

News  

Tuesday, May 27, 2025

ATF Invites FFLs Zeroed Out Under Biden-Harris to Reapply

Among all the infringements of the Second Amendment perpetrated by the Biden-Harris regime, one of the most punitive and consequential was ATF’s “zero tolerance” enforcement policy for Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs). 

U.S. Representative Suggests TRIPLING ($600) Suppressor Tax!

News  

Tuesday, May 27, 2025

U.S. Representative Suggests TRIPLING ($600) Suppressor Tax!

Excellent news for gun owners came last week when the U.S. House of Representatives passed President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill, which includes the complete removal of suppressors from the National Firearms Act (NFA). 

Twenty-four State Attorneys General Urge Congress to Pass H.R. 38

News  

Monday, June 2, 2025

Twenty-four State Attorneys General Urge Congress to Pass H.R. 38

On May 21, two dozen state attorneys general sent a letter to the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives, urging that body to pass H.R. 38, the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act.

Loot Canal: U.S. Taxpayers Funded Bizarre Dental “Gun Violence” Research

News  

Monday, June 2, 2025

Loot Canal: U.S. Taxpayers Funded Bizarre Dental “Gun Violence” Research

When the Biden-Harris administration made clear they intended to use a “whole-of-government” approach to suppress Second Amendment rights, few could have predicted their efforts would extend all the way to the dentist’s office.

Australia’s Gun Laws, Failing in Different Ways

News  

Monday, June 2, 2025

Australia’s Gun Laws, Failing in Different Ways

Everything is relative, so the saying goes, which means that once in a while, it’s instructive to read about the gun laws and the state of gun rights in other countries. 

NRA Files Amicus Brief in Challenge to Machinegun Possession Ban

Wednesday, June 4, 2025

NRA Files Amicus Brief in Challenge to Machinegun Possession Ban

Yesterday, the National Rifle Association, Firearms Policy Coalition, and FPC Action Foundation filed an amicus brief arguing that the federal prohibition on machinegun possession is unconstitutional as applied to the defendant in the Fifth Circuit case, United States ...

NRA-ILA Petitions the U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to NFA Restrictions on Short-Barreled Rifles

News  

Second Amendment  

Friday, June 6, 2025

NRA-ILA Petitions the U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to NFA Restrictions on Short-Barreled Rifles

Today, the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) filed a Petition for Certiorari requesting that the U.S. Supreme Court hear a challenge to the National Firearms Act of 1934’s restrictions on short-barreled rifles ...

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News  

Monday, June 2, 2025

ATF Updates “Brady Permit Chart,” Reduces Need for Redundant NICS Checks

We have been reporting on recent reforms by ATF to make its operations more transparent, professional, and public safety focused and less openly hostile to law abiding gun owners and the industries that serve them. 

Anti-gun Shakedown Machine Now Targets Toy Gun Sellers

News  

Monday, June 2, 2025

Anti-gun Shakedown Machine Now Targets Toy Gun Sellers

The pro-Second Amendment community understands that guns are not toys.

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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.