Bill would require firearm safety instruction in Arizona K-12 classrooms

PHOENIX – Two Republican lawmakers in Arizona want to require all K-12 students to take a firearm safety class every year.

Senate Bill 1424 would require public and charter schools to provide annual firearm‑safety and accident‑prevention lessons for students in grades K–12. The instruction would cover safe gun storage, what to do if a student finds a gun, and the risks of handling firearms.

Schools would not be allowed to use live guns or ammunition during the lessons. The Arizona Department of Education would work with the Department of Public Safety and the Arizona Game and Fish Department to develop the curriculum.

Republican state Sens. Wendy Rogers and Mark Finchem are sponsoring the bill, which they say is intended to help children stay safe if they encounter a firearm.

“Firearms exist in so many Arizona communities and households,” Rogers told KTAR News 92.3 FM. “A few years ago, the CDC data showed that close to 40% of accidental shootings happen in the home of a friend. We want to stop that. With proper education, I believe we can.”

This comes after Sunland STEAM Academy in Phoenix was placed on lockdown last week after a weapon was reported on campus.

It’s just one way Republican leaders want to make schools safer

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne called for more funding for school safety officers to ensure a safe campus.

“The discovery of a gun on an elementary school campus is very disturbing and once again shows how important it is that schools have armed officers on campus,” Horne said in a Monday press release.

Rogers added that while some parents may be concerned about their children learning about guns in the classroom, the bill does not teach students how to use a gun, just how to be safe around one.

“The focus is strictly safety awareness and accident prevention, not politics or advocacy,” she said.

The bill has passed the Arizona Senate and will be voted on by the House Education Committee Tuesday afternoon.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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