Arkansas public schools to teach annual gun safety courses beginning next year

Public and charter schools in Arkansas will begin providing annual gun safety courses starting next year.

House Bill 1117, signed into law March 4 by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, requires “a public school district and an open-enrollment public charter school to annually provide students with instruction on firearm safety.”

It also tasks “the division of elementary and secondary education and the Arkansas State Game and Fish Commission [AGFC] to determine the earliest grade in which it is appropriate for students to receive instruction on firearm safety.”

Sponsored by Rep. R. Scott Richardson, R-Bentonville, and Sen. Joshua Bryant, R-Rogers, the bill was conceived after conversations with neighbors.

“All of our children play together and invade whatever home happens to be the play of the day,” Richardson said in explaining the thought behind the law. “And in that process, they may go into a neighbor’s home and discover that unsecured firearm – and how would they react?” 

He also explained the course won’t teach students how to use firearms, as some have worried. Instead, it teaches them what to do if they do find an unsecured gun. 

“Most people would agree that a secured firearm is the best way to ensure safety, but we’re flawed people. And so, this provides just another support avenue to make sure those children know how to handle that circumstance,” he told KATV, the ABC affiliate in Little Rock. 

“That doesn’t happen very often, but if we can save one life with this bill, it was well worth the effort. … It does not teach children how to use a firearm, in any stretch.” 

The bill also provides guidelines for the types of instruction allowed, and could include “videos to online sources and even mentions the possibility of an off-campus, commission-approved firearm safety course in conjunction with a live-fire exercise or sporting event.” 

However, any live-fire training exercises would have to be conducted off campus and require parental consent. 

“If an off-campus, commission-approved firearm safety course is provided in conjunction with a live-fire exercise or sporting event, the provider of the off-campus, commission-approved firearm safety course and the public school district or open-enrollment public charter school in which the participating student is enrolled shall obtain prior written approval from the participating student’s parent, legal guardian, or person standing in loco parentis to the participating student,” the law stipulates. 

“That optional part of it could very well be satisfied by participation in our youth shooting sports program, which is in a number of schools around the state,” said Trey Reid, assistant chief of communications at AGFC. “Or we do hunter education programming in, I think, 140 different districts.” 

Between 2003 and 2021, the CDC’s National Violent Death Reporting System “identified 1,262 unintentional firearm injury deaths among children aged 0–17 years: the largest percentage (33%) of these deaths were among children aged 11–15 years, followed by 29% among those aged 0–5 years, 24% among those aged 16–17 years, and 14% among persons aged 6–10 years.  

“Overall, 83% of unintentional firearm injury deaths occurred among boys. The majority (85%) of victims were fatally injured at a house or apartment, including 56% in their own home. Approximately one half (53%) of fatal unintentional firearm injuries to children were inflicted by others; 38% were self-inflicted. In 9% of incidents, it was unknown whether the injury was self- or other-inflicted. Approximately two thirds (67%) of shooters were playing with or showing the firearm to others when it discharged.  

“Overall, firearms used in unintentional injury deaths were often stored loaded (74%) and unlocked (76%) and were most commonly accessed from nightstands and other sleeping areas (30%).” 

Underscoring the need for Arkansas’ new law, the CDC concludes these deaths are easily prevented with proper firearm storage. Yet, on average more than 70 children died each year during that timeframe after coming into contact with unsecured firearms.  

“Unintentional firearm injury deaths of children are preventable,” the CDC report concludes. “Secured firearm storage practices (e.g., storing firearms locked, unloaded, and separate from ammunition) have been identified as protective factors against child firearm injuries and deaths, underscoring the importance of policymakers, health care professionals (e.g., pediatricians), and others partnering with parents, caregivers, and firearm owners to promote secure firearm storage.” 

Arkansas is now the second state to require gun safety courses for public school students. Tennessee passed similar legislation last year. Under the Tennessee law, courses will also begin during the 2025-26 school year.  

Utah is working toward passing its own such legislation. In February the Utah House of Representatives passed HB 104 requiring education agencies “to provide firearm safety instruction to students.” The bill is now awaiting action in the state’s Senate.