LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A new law in Arkansas aims to educate students about firearm safety. Act 229, signed into law, requires open enrollment public charter schools and public schools to provide age-appropriate instruction on firearm safety.
Rep. R. Scott Richardson of Bentonville, the bill’s lead sponsor, said the idea stemmed from conversations with his neighbors.
“Often times they come from a variety of backgrounds, backgrounds that may or may not have had opportunities to be exposed to firearms in the home,” Richardson said.
He added, “All of our children play together and invade whatever home happens to be the play of the day. And in that process, they may go into a neighbor’s home and discover that unsecured firearm, and how would they react?”
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) and the state’s Department of Education will develop the safety instruction.
Trey Reid, a spokesman for AGFC, said the agency has expertise in firearm safety through its recreational shooting division and hunter education program.
“We’ve had hunter education in Arkansas for, oh, 45 years, probably now it has been mandatory. It’s mandatory for anybody born after 1968 you have to have it in order to get a hunting license,” Reid said.
Reid believes the new law’s requirements will make the instruction simpler than the 10-hour hunter education course.
“This is going to be really basic, I mean, you know, basically a firearm safety version of Stop, drop and roll,” Reid said.
Richardson emphasized the focus is on safety, not firearm use.
“Let’s remove the unknown factor. Let’s make sure we portray it as what it really is, that it is a firearm, that it should not be handled by a child, and make sure that they know how to appropriately respond by going and alerting an adult that that situation exists,” Richardson said.
Instruction will begin in the 2025-26 school year.
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