Some states are requiring gun safety lessons in schools that teach kids ‘stop, don’t touch’

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — This school year, elementary, middle and high school students in some states will get a new safety lesson: what to do if they find a gun.

Arkansas, Tennessee and Utah are the first states to pass laws requiring public schools to teach children as young as 5 the basics of gun safety and how to properly store firearms at home. Only Utah law allows students to withdraw from the course at the request of parents or guardians.

In Arizona, a similar law was vetoed by the Democratic governor, and lawmakers in at least five other states have introduced such proposals, putting schools at the forefront of a new debate over gun violence.

In Tennessee, lesson plans may include stickers, games, quizzes or videos with music and colorful illustrations of firearms, including a gun made from Lego-style bricks and an explanation of what a muzzleloader is.

The reality is that many children in the United States grow up around guns.

At Berclair Elementary School in Memphis, a class of 16 fifth-graders was asked how many of them had seen a real gun. Almost everyone raised their hands.

“It shows how necessary a course like this is,” said health and physical education teacher Tammie Chapman, who leads the classes at this school.

“While there is some controversy around guns, there isn’t always,” said Emily Buck, public relations director for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, which created a program with the state Department of Education. “I think having some education and basic knowledge can really be beneficial in the long run.”

Lessons are often adapted from hunting safety courses already provided by state game and wildlife agencies, but with key differences.

Hunter safety courses typically involve hands-on instruction and explanations on how to safely handle and shoot a firearm. These classroom lessons, on the other hand, emphasize that children should not touch a gun.

In Tennessee, the law prohibits all use of firearms, but in Arkansas, the law allows parents to opt for alternative curriculums, such as an off-campus gun safety course that could include real weapons.

The main takeaway is a series of steps to follow when a child finds a gun: stop, don’t touch, leave quickly, tell an adult. This is consistent with instructions created by other organizations, including the National Rifle Association which features animated characters, videos and coloring pages.

At Berclair Elementary School, faculty designed a relay race game to keep students engaged. In the gymnasium, students took turns running toward buckets containing different photos. Students who found a photo of a gun then reported it to one of the adults. They also listened to a catchy jingle highlighting the steps.

Buck acknowledged that adults could be responsible for creating dangerous situations at home and said children should be prepared if they find guns in unusual places, such as on shelves or under a mattress.

“We hope that maybe students will take some of what they learned home to their parents and maybe encourage their parents to adjust their storage method,” Buck said.

Gun legislation is a partisan issue in the United States, with Democratic-led states imposing more limits on access to firearms and efforts to strengthen gun laws often failing in Republican-controlled legislatures.

Republicans sponsored and supported education bills in Arkansas, Tennessee, and Utah. The legislation states that the curriculum must include neutral viewpoints on any gun-related topic, such as gun ownership in general.

Voices for a Safer Tennessee, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization started by parents after the Covenant School shooting in Nashville, supported the legislation. The organization supports gun ownership and advocates for policies such as expanded background checks.

These lessons could encourage families to start necessary conversations, said Jessica Jaglois, the organization’s communications director.

“This could potentially prevent a gun-related tragedy from happening, because we know that one moment of access can lead to a lifelong tragedy,” Jaglois said.

In 2022, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that guns were the leading cause of death among children and adolescents. Arkansas and Tennessee have gun death rates among children and teens that exceed the national average, according to an AP analysis. But some Democrats and gun control advocates say this type of legislation is the wrong approach to gun violence.

“Using the school day to teach children how guns work will not prevent adults from leaving their firearms unsecured or keeping deadly weapons out of dangerous hands,” Meg Beauregard, policy advisor at Everytown for Gun Safety, said in a statement. “If lawmakers truly wanted to protect students, they would pass laws that hold adults accountable, like secure storage, without putting the burden of keeping children safe.”

States have given school districts some latitude in using provided lesson plans or other instructions consistent with the language of the laws. Schools can also decide which faculty or staff members will lead classes or, in some cases, bring in police officers to talk about gun safety.

In Arkansas, schools could choose to incorporate the lessons as part of annual safety training, such as when they practice fire or tornado safety drills, said Spencer Griffith, deputy director of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

“We hope that they will intervene in a way that maybe helps prevent some of these accidents from happening, but not in a way that emphasizes politics or fear around this, because this is just not the place for that,” Griffith said.

Berclair Superintendent Clint Davis said the problem of children being injured in gun accidents is not new, although this program is.

“It’s not something that has necessarily become a modern problem. It’s always been there,” Davis said. “And I think we’ve only just really addressed the need to provide this type of training in school.”

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Sainz reported from Memphis. Associated Press writer Jonathan Mattise in Nashville and Associated Press data journalist Kasturi Pananjady in Philadelphia contributed to this report.